Morality and the Self

Social psychologists have discovered that our self-images play a surprising role in our thinking about everyday moral matters. People who feel they have already proven themselves to be morally good feel less pressure to do the right thing than someone whose moral credentials are still in question. And people often resent, rather than applaud, the morally admirable actions of others if those actions threaten their own sense of moral adequacy. John and Ken explore the surprising ways in which our own self-images influences our moral evaluations and reasoning with Stanford psychologist Benoit Monin. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Marsh theatre in San Francisco.