It might seem a troubling thought for anyone who favours a more reflective ethics that in practice, ethics is rooted much more in feeling than in thinking, but there is good reason for this. The fundamental impulse to treat others well derives from a kind of empathy, not obedience to authority or a rational principle. For sure, we ought to use our reason to check whether our impulses are misleading us, as they undoubtedly often do. But in daily life, it makes perfect sense to trust the person of generosity and good heart more than the professor of abstract intelligence.