On the Post-Enlightenment Evolution of Moral Universalism

Michael Jetter

No 16947, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Is humanity's circle of moral concern expanding, as often claimed? I explore frequencies of morally universal language in 15m book publications in American English, British English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian from 1800-2000. In each language, morally universal terminology diminished substantially. I then test two prominent hypotheses predicting moral universalism: reason and religion. Reason-based terminology correlates positively with morally universal and morally communal terminology, explaining seemingly contradictory observations of the 20th century. In contrast, communal terminology sub-sides when religious terminology becomes more frequent. These empirical patterns cast doubt on prominent claims of moral universalism expanding.

Keywords: Expanding Circle; moral universalism; moral expansiveness; reason; religion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N30 Z12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2024-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-hpe
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