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Life

Interview: How we tell right from wrong

By Ivan Semeniuk

28 February 2007

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Marc Hauser

(Image: John Soares)

Audio: We devote a full episode of our weekly podcast, SciPod, to exploring Marc Hauser’s work on the “moral organ” and what it means to our notions of justice and fair play. Listen to it here (mp3 format).

In a hospital emergency room, five critically ill patients desperately need organ transplants. A healthy man walks in. Should the doctors remove his organs to save the sick five? Most people will respond in milliseconds with a resounding “No way”. Now imagine an out-of-control train about to run down five workers standing on the track. There’s…

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