Paul Bloom Quotes

Over the last few years, I've been focusing on questions having to do with the self, and questions having to do with morality. I'm very interested in why we do good things, or bad things, and where moral judgments come from.

I think that moral philosophy is useful for framing questions, but terrible at answering them. I think moral psychology is booming right now, and we're making a lot of progress on understanding how we actually work, what our moral nature is.

The science of morality is about maximizing psychological and social health. It's really no more inflammatory than that.

The moral sense is as much a part of our constitution as that of feeling, seeing, or hearing.

I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.

That we occasionally violate our own stated moral code does not imply that we are insincere in espousing that code.

If you ask anyone, what is morality based on? These are the two factors that always come out: One is reciprocity, … a sense of fairness, and the other one is empathy and compassion.

Morals were restrictive, but they were grounded on human experience.

If one is not virtuous he becomes vicious.

Do people get moral when they don't get ahead?

Every wicked man is in ignorance as to what he ought to do, and from what to abstain, and it is because of error such as this that men become unjust and, in a word, wicked.

I don't believe that we evolved moral psychology; it just doesn't seem plausible to me as a biological phenomenon.

The whole history of man is continuous proof of the maxim that to divest one's methods of ethical concepts means to sink into the depths of utter demoralization.

With morality we correct the mistakes of our instincts, and with love we correct the mistakes of our morals.

That which is selfish is immoral, and that which is unselfish is moral.

What would Jesus, or any human being who isn't an asshole, do?

It is better to will the good than to know the truth.

Morality is the Science of harmonious relations between intelligent beings.

Moralism doesn't produce morality; it produces immorality.

We have never stopped sin by passing laws; and in the same way, we are not going to take a great moral ideal and achieve it merely by law.

Too great a preoccupation with motives (especially one's own motive) is liable to lead to too little concern for consequences.

A man must either imitate the vicious or hate them.

A perverted moral judgment belongs to the dogmatic system.

You can't slice up morals.

Will springs from the two elements of moral sense and self-interest.