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Puritanical morality: Cooperation or coercion?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2023

Glenn Barenthin Open the ORCID record for Glenn Barenthin [Opens in a new window]
Glenn Barenthin*
Affiliation:
School of Public Safety and Behavioural Studies, Seneca Polytechnic, King City, ON, Canada glenn.barenthin@senecacollege.ca; www.senecacollege.ca
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Abstract

The suggestion that there is a need to moralize bodily pleasures for uncooperative self-control failures doesn't fit with the historical record. I counter that the development of puritanical values was an instrument of coercion and control, rather than an adaptation for cooperation. Confusing cooperation with coercion and moral principles with conventional norms leads to misconceptions about societal arrangements.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e294
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

Dworkin, R. (2011). Justice for hedgehogs. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Turiel, E. (1983). The development of social knowledge: Morality and convention. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar