Hierarchy norms derive from an evolved sense of hierarchy, not fairness.

Evidence

An alternative approach to the norms that regulate behavior in hierarchies is to claim that, to a large extent, they are grounded not in a sense of fairness but in an evolved sense of hierarchy (that has counterparts among other primates). Even if hierarchy is not something that all humans accept, it is something that they all intuitively understand from infancy (Mascaro & Csibra 2012) and that, when they accept it, they view it as a source of authority and legitimacy in its own right. Hence, there are rights and duties that follow from hierarchical relationships and are not grounded in fairness. In some societies, they permeate all of social life. They often take precedence over the consideration of fairness. On a narrower view of fairness-based morality, this means that these norms of hierarchy are not intrinsically moral. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 719

Categorization

• XREF: Relevant to how the Japanese authorities’ hierarchical enforcement of the fumi-e is grounded in hierarchy-as-legitimacy, not fairness, which pairs with the reader’s Big God versus apostasy frame. — connects to: Fairness regulates rather than generates the moralized expression of evolved dispositions — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 692

Related

• Human morality may rest on a general normativizing capacity, not a dedicated fairness module. (similarity 0.82)
• Fairness regulates rather than generates the moralized expression of evolved dispositions (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Fairness regulates rather than generates the moralized expression of evolved dispositions #complicates (0.82) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 692