Justice as Fairness in Monkeys: Linking Preferences behind and in front of a Veil of Ignorance
2017/11/21
研討會日期 : 2017-11-21
時間 : 14:30
主講人 : Professor Chen-Ying Huang (黃貞穎)
主持人 : Professor Chun-Hsien Yeh
地點 : Conference Room B110
演講者簡介 : Professor Huang received her Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. She is currently a Professor at National Taiwan University. Her research field are Microeconomic theory and its experimental applications.
演講摘要 : The veil of ignorance (VOI) thought experiment is helpful in revealing moral preference such as justice. We study choices behind a VOI in Formosa macaques attempting to shed light on whether moral preference is uniquely human and how it may be determined. Monkeys appear more equal-minded behind a VOI than in a corresponding pure risk environment, suggesting the existence of other-regarding preference. This higher tendency to be equal-minded behind a VOI correlates positively with the strength of disadvantageous other-regarding preference such as aversion to fall behind, which in turns positively correlates with the body weight of the decision maker. The advantageous other-regarding preference such as aversion to lead ahead on the other hand does not exhibit such correlations. Our result suggests the importance of disadvantageous other-regarding preference in explaining more equal choices behind a VOI, intriguingly hinting on the possibility that moral behavior might be related to aversion to fall behind.
