Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture, and Wisdom

Moral development has traditionally been considered a matter of reasoning. In this integrative book, Darcia Narvaez demonstrates how morality goes “all the way down,” involving neurobiological, cultural and psychological aspects of early emotional development.

Evolution provided an extra-genetic niche for child development, characterized by intensive parenting and social support. Modern cultures have shifted away from the intensive practices that easily foster a neurobiology supportive of wellbeing and builds “primal” wisdom from the ground up. Rather, Western wisdom traditions help adults foster wisdom “top-down.”

Integrating the latest scholarship in clinical sciences and positive psychology, Narvaez proposes a developmental ecological ethical Practice as a way to self-author and shift cultures and consciousness towards a timely alternative vision of moral development and flourishing.