Running head: INNOCENT

INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY

Presented to
Dom Maximilian Mary, OSB
School of Law
San Beda College Alabang

by
Andrei L. Maghirang
2016
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Abstract

“Innocent until proven guilty”. The law presumes that each and every person is innocent,
but in reality, is everyone truly innocent deep down. Is morality inherent in every person?
According to the Moral Foundations Theory, people have a first draft of morality when they are
born. It forms the basic values that is developed throughout their lives. It suggests that when we
are born we have already have moral foundations that make us exhibit prosocial behavior. A
number of studies show that infants do actually already exhibit certain prosocial behaviors. They
react positively to prosocial scenarios. They even consider the mental state of those who exhibit
prosocial behavior.
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DISCUSSION
Morality, as defined by Merriem-Websters dictionary, are “conformity to the right
conduct”. The study of morality is dealt with in both psychology and philosophy Psychology
traces its beginning from philosophy so it is not all that surprising. When psychology separated
from philosophy to function as its own independent branch of science, it continued to explore the
topic of morality.
In a narrow sense, Moral Psychology is the study of the development of the moral
identity of a person. Lawrence Kohlberg is known as the founder of the modern field of moral
psychology. He based his works from that of Piaget. Kohlberg introduced the “Moral
Development Theory” wherein he postulated that a person’s development of moral reasoning can
be separated into six identifiable developmental stages which is separated into three levels,
namely: pre-conventional morality, conventional morality and post-conventional morality. Pre-
conventional level is exhibited during childhood and the two stages within this level is the
obedience and punishment orientation and self-interest orientation. The Conventional level is for
adolescents and adults which consists of the stages of interpersonal accord and conformity, and
authority and social-order maintain orientation. Lastly the Post-conventional level which consists
of the social orientation and universal ethical principles stages. What is important to note in the
works of Kohlberg is that it is based on the assumptions that inherently humans are capable of
reason and posses a desire to understand others and the world around them (Kohlberg, 1973).

It begs the question is man then inherently moral?

Moral Foundations Theory was created to answer this question and “where does morality
come from?”. This theory was developed by exploring morality and its origins. It posits four
claims namely: Nativism, Cultural learning, Intuitionism and Pluralism. On the first claim,
Nativism, they posit that men have a first draft of a moral mind when they are born. According to
them, this draft is provided by nature and as a person lives the draft is edited or revised by
experience. It means that it can be changed depending on the circumstances of the person.In a
scientific point of view our genes author this draft into our neural tissues. The draft is then
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revised during childhood, and less as people mature to adulthood. On the second claim, Cultural
learning, this focuses more on how the culture of a person revises the draft. In this claim it
explains that each child is given a “universal leaning module” which becomes specialized
depending on their environment. However, despite the differences that may develop between, for
example, a traditional Hindu Community and a liberal American Community, they would still
exemplify certain basic characteristics that are similar meaning that different people would still
have values which are similar. On the third claim, Institutionism, which claim that moral
evaluations are more instinctual rather than strategic. In other words, moral evaluations are
immediate and heuristic. It does not mean that people do not reflect on their moral decisions. It is
just that instinct comes first before strategic reasoning is applied. On the last claim, pluralism,
which claim that the moral foundations that are innate to people have been undergoing
evolutionary changes throughout time. The first draft may be more of an adaptive response based
on the difficulties our ancestors have encountered (Grahama et al., 2012)
. A research paper written by Hamlin in the University of British Columbia. It tried to
explore the researches which observed “sophisticated and flexible moral behavior” in infants.
According to her, development researches that have been recently conducted shows that there are
certain aspects of human morality that are inherent. In an experiment with pre-verbal infants
could comprehend certain cooperative behaviors. It was also shown that infants reacted
positively to helpful behaviors and negatively towards uncooperative behaviors. In the
experiment, the toddlers were exposed to certain “morality plays”. The toddlers observed certain
scenarios that are enacted using toys. Some scenes exhibited helpful behaviors, such as, returning
a ball that was accidentally dropped. On the other hand, the other scenarios exhibited
uncooperative behaviors, for example, a characters kicks the ball that was accidentally dropped.
The reactions of the infants were measured by whether they reached out to the scene or not. The
results show that infants reacted more positively with scenarios that exhibited helpful behaviors.
On the other hand, they exhibited more aversive behaviors in the uncooperative scenarios
(Hamlin & Wynn, 2011; Hamlin, 2010). This review of researches also suggested that
there are those that show moral goodness to be present during infancy. It was stated that
children who were just born exhibited “rudimentary emotional reactions’ to the distress
of othersWhen they are able to physically express it, the emotional responses to suffering
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are manifested by certain prosocial behaviors, such as comforting and helping. (Martin &
Clark, 1982; Sagi & Hoffman, 1976).
Another study explored the mental state of prosocial behavior. They explained that
the mental state plays an important role in prosocial behavior such as giving candy to a
friend. Generally, the act is prosocial however it becomes anti-social if the giver knows
that the recipient does not like candy. A study examined whether infants considered
mental states when they express prosocial behavior. It was shown in the study that infants
evaluated scenarios using mental states that are not as simple as people would expect.
They considered the intention of those who act prosocial behavior (Hamlin, et al., 2013).

.
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CONCLUSION

Man is innately moral in accordance with different psychological researches that have
been conducted. The theory that supports this claim is the Moral Foundations Theory, which
shows that when we are born we have a first draft of morality already implanted in our minds.
This draft is then developed as we live our lives. It is influenced by different environmental
factors, such as, culture, location and the people around us. It is posited that this “first draft” of
morality is an adaptive reaction that developed through time due to the challenges our ancestors
have faced. It is an adaptive mechanism that has assisted the survival of human beings since time
immemorial.
A number of studies on infants have been conducted which explored their reactions to
prosocial behavior. The studies show that infants tend to react more positively to prosocial
behavior, compared to aversive behavior. It was also seen that infants actually somehow evaluate
the mental state of actors of prosocial behaviors.
The presumption of innocence in law may have more psychological basis than what most
people expected. In news today, it is not anymore surprising to see drug pushers being killed
without due process. They are killed during buy-bust operations or for supposedly resisting
arrest. The welfare of society, especially against drugs, is most definitely of paramount
importance. However, it must be remembered that the individual lives of these humans are very
precious. These people were also once infants who reached towards those showing good deeds.
They may have been merely influenced by the circumstances of their individual lives. This is
not to say that they should go unpunished, however, this is the exact purpose of the justice
system. “The expenses and annoyance of litigation form part of thes social burden of living in a
society which seeks to attain social control through law” as held in the case of Petroleum
Exploration v. Public Service Commission (1938). We must move towards change as one
community, together, as one nation.
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References
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(2012). Moral Foundations Theory: The Pragmatic Validity of Moral Pluralism.

Haidt, J. (2007). The New Synthesis in Moral Psychology. Science, 316(5827), 998-

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Hamlin, J. (2013). Moral Judgment and Action in Preverbal Infants and Toddlers:
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Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/morality

Petroleum Exploration v. Public Service Commission, 304 U.S. 209, (1938)