I begin with a puzzle: analysis of moral choice during the Holocaust locate
s the drive toward morality not in traditional explanations-such as religio
n, duty or reason-but in identity. This empirical anomaly suggests a gap in
the literature on ethics. I thus developed a theory explaining morality th
rough identity, focusing on the human capacity for intersubjective communic
ation and the need to distinguish boundaries via categorization. Psychologi
cal studies on self-esteem and the need for consistent behavior and linguis
tic and psychoanalytic work on categorization suggest people do categorize
and that such categorization is a universal of human nature. Once people cr
eate categories, furthermore, they feel they must accord equal treatment to
ail members within that class. This suggests the drive toward morality ema
nates in human psychology and that we must honor the humanity of others in
order to claim it in ourselves.