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Tribalism and the Open Question of Love’s Moral Impact
Contrasting the animality of family bonds with the unnaturalness of the moral perspective
Romantic love, as in the hormonal and social bond between life partners has arguably been the most important thing in people’s lives since the dawn of time.
Even before the cultural celebration of romance, which is relatively recent in history, the exclusive, intimate kind of love between sexual partners and parents is as old as the biochemistry that evolved to compensate for the unusual helplessness of human infants. Infants are born early, before their head gets too large to fit through the mother’s birth canal. Thus, infants can’t possibly defend themselves and must be protected by their parents if they’re to survive.
Several hormonal mechanisms ensure that that happens. For instance, we’re biologically prone to swoon over signs of “cuteness,” and cuteness in a face can be quantified across animal species since it has to do with the baby schema (large head, round face, and big eyes). Also, as social, cooperative mammals, we’ve evolved to pity and to help those who are helpless.
Moreover, a cocktail of love hormones, including oxytocin, vasopressin, and dopamine floods the body as part of courtship, sexual intercourse, and the…
