Nimetic

I'm no philosopher... but my take on it is that empathy is an inbuilt capability that humans have, to a lesser or greater degree - which assists us with cooperation and hence gives evolutionary advantage.

At the same time, the ability to fool others also provides individual advantage. So we have this as an evolutionary remnant also.

Next big thing is the "prisoners dilemma" (please place the apostrophe yourself).

This is a real interesting game, a set of situations where trust provides advantage. A variant of the game that allows repeated trades helps show why cooperation may be more marked in small communities - and less advantageous in large ones.... essentially, if you rip somebody off in a big city, you're less likely to encounter them again. Conversely in a small town, it pays to be a nice guy.

On a completely different track...

I was listening to some excellent lectures (while driving) on Kant. He had a powerful summation of how to determine whether something is moral or not. (I regret laughing at the arts students now).

In contrast, Nietzsche seems to view morals and religion as somewhat of a herd mentality, a weakness.

Dunno. For sure though... there's no need for a deity. But there probably is a need for some teaching.... my gut feeling is that kids have the capability to learn morals, but they don't come with morals inbuilt and fully functioning. (Parents help me out on that?).