Science & the Big Questions

How to Be an Effective Altruist When Giving to Charities

Give to charities that maximize the impact of your donation, but don’t overlook causes close to your heart.

Los Angeles Times

Topics: Altruism Decision-Making Empathy Joshua Greene Morality Social Behavior

Playing Favorites: When Kindness Toward Some Means Callousness Toward Others

If we do a favor for someone we know, we think we’ve done a good deed. What we don’t tend to ask is: Who have we harmed by treating this person with more kindness than we show toward others?

Hidden Brain, NPR

Topics: Altruism Bias Cooperation Decision-Making Group Identity Joshua Greene Morality

Does the Trolley Problem Have a Problem?

What if your answer to an absurd hypothetical question had no bearing on how you behaved in real life?

Slate

Topics: Ethics Joshua Greene Morality

If Buddhist Monks Trained AI

Monks take on the trolley problem, a classic moral dilemma that has big implications for driverless cars.

The Atlantic

Topics: Ethics Joshua Greene Morality Technology

Giving ‘Good’ a Rigorous Inspection

Joshua Greene, Steven Pinker, and Peter Singer trade ideas on how to be moral — and happy.

The Harvard Gazette

Topics: Cooperation Ethics Happiness Joshua Greene Morality Progress Values

Philosophers Are Using Science and Data Points to Test Theories of Morality

The statistical and scientific methods seen in philosophy today are a new development.

Quartz

Topics: Joshua Greene Morality

Do Emotions and Morality Mix

A philosopher explains how feelings influence right and wrong.

The Atlantic

Topics: Cognition Decision-Making Emotion Ethics Joshua Greene Morality