Abstract

SILVEIRA, Matheus de Mesquita  and  SULICH, Joanna Maria. Howling demands: the role of emotions in approval and censorship behaviors in wolf packs1. Conjectura: filos. e Educ. [online]. 2021, vol.26, e021001.  Epub Jan 01, 2024. ISSN 2178-4612.  https://doi.org/10.18226/21784612.v26.e021001.

The primary goal of this article is to explain the crucial role of emotions in the moral behavior of social mammals. Morality can be understood as a natural system of reciprocal demands in which wolves are engaged from birth, and where the emotional bonds between members of the pack play a key role. Empirical evidence suggests that the relationship between emotions and social instincts allows wolves to exhibit morally qualified social behaviors, as evidenced by the complex social systems within wolf packs. The article draws connections between cognitive research on emotions and psychobiological systems to contemporary studies in wolf ethology. It provides empirical support to the philosophical hypothesis that emotions arise in response to a range of socially significant events. Thus, we aim to review the nature of the inherent emotional demands of morality and their relationship with the natural traits that allowed wolves to develop a complex social life. Therefore, the article presents the required elements for the emergence of inherent morality in mammals with a complex social life, which seems to be a strong argument in favor of a theory that provides an evolutionary basis for morality.

Keywords : Moral; Emotions; Wolves; Emotivism; Ethology.

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