TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Jetter, Michael
        TI  - On the Post-Enlightenment Evolution of Moral Universalism
        PY  - 2024/Apr/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 16947
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp16947
        AB  - Is humanity's circle of moral concern expanding, as often claimed? I explore frequencies of morally universal language in 15m book publications in American English, British English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian from 1800-2000. In each language, morally universal terminology diminished substantially. I then test two prominent hypotheses predicting moral universalism: reason and religion. Reason-based terminology correlates positively with morally universal and morally communal terminology, explaining seemingly contradictory observations of the 20th century. In contrast, communal terminology sub-sides when religious terminology becomes more frequent. These empirical patterns cast doubt on prominent claims of moral universalism expanding.
        KW  - moral expansiveness
KW  - moral universalism
KW  - Expanding Circle
KW  - reason
KW  - religion
        ER  -