When two tribes go to law: The Moral Foundations Theory and the Brexit negotiations

Complex negotiations are done by people and often carried out in pursuit of culturally ingrained ideas such as international unity or national sovereignty. As such, they may be subject to the sorts adaptive biases reasoning heuristics that present at level individual collective decision making. The following commentary applies an influential model intuitive ethics, Moral Foundations Theory, Brexit negotiations. This framework suggests moral intuitions reflect five psychological systems shaped our evolutionary history. Focusing on three most relevant foundations Fairness/cheating, Loyalty/betrayal, Authority/subversion, I explore how both parties’ red lines priorities consistent with this criterion. In doing so, hope provide insight into innate cognitive can inform legal processes wide-ranging ramifications.