The Social Scientific Study of Morality

After introducing some basic concepts and definitions, this chapter first discusses the classic conceptions of morality found within the work of important social theorists—focused largely but not fully on sociological scholars. Second, it offers an overview of how different traditions across sociology and psychology (for example, Kohlberg, Durkheim, Social Intuitionist Theory) have studied and conceptualized morality, at both the micro and macro levels. We build on the observation that much of the work takes a micro, person-centric approach to morality. This discussion extends into newer theory and research across important anthropological, psychological, and sociological theories and empirical explorations.