Scientists from various disciplines have begun to focus renewed

attention on the psychology and biology of human morality. One research program that has recently gained attention is universal moral grammar

(UMG). UMG seeks to describe the nature and origin of moral knowledge by using concepts and models similar

to those used in Chomsky’s program in linguistics. This approach is thought to provide a fruitful perspective from

which to investigate moral competence from computational, ontogenetic, behavioral, physiological, and

phylogenetic perspectives. In my talk, I first outline a framework for UMG and describe some of the evidence

supporting it. I then discuss some initial findings of a related study in comparative law that seeks to

determine how certain norms, such as the prohibition of homicide, are codified and interpreted in several

hundred jurisdictions around the world. The study’s main finding, the apparent universality or near-universality

of specific justifications and excuses, lends further support to UMG. It also raises novel questions for cognitive

science, broadly construed, including neuroethics, behavioral economics, evolutionary psychology, and

legal anthropology.