Evolutionary Ethics: (SUNY series in Philosophy and Biology)

This volume analyzes the biological and philosophical disagreements in evolutionary ethics and points out difficulties with the interpretations. The book is divided into four sections. The first is an historical introduction to the origin of evolutionary ethics, showing how different evolutionary ethics was a hundred years ago, and how distant Huxley is from most of us now. The second section argues for a sociobiological interpretation of evolutionary ethics. The third section presents the view opposite to that of the second section and rejects the sociobiological interpretation. The fourth section deals objectively with many complex and fundamental issues from diverse perspectives.

Table of Contents:
Preface Contributors Introduction Problematic Worldviews of Evolutionary Ethics Matthew H. Nitecki Ethics and the Cosmic Order Evolution and Ethics Thomas H. Huxley Ethics and the Struggle for Existence Leslie Stephen Evolution and Ethics John Dewey Philosophical Advocacy Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Evolutionary Ethics Robert J. Richards The New Evolutionary Ethics Michael Ruse Biological Considerations in the Analysis of Morality Richard D. Alexander Philosophical Skepticism Evolutionary Altruism, Psychological Egoism, and Morality: Disentangling the Phenotypes Elliott Sober Mother Nature is a Wicked Old Witch George C. Williams Can Beings Whose Ethics Evolved Be Ethical Beings? Patricia A. Williams Biosocial Debate The Moral Career of Vertebrate Values Andrzej Elzanowski The Chimpanzee's Mind: How Noble in Reason? How Absent of Ethics? Daniel J. Povinelli and Laurie R. Godfrey Evolutionary Origin of Moral Principles Adam Urbanek The Complex of Questions Relating Evolution to Ethics Lawrence Slobodkin The Kinds of "Individuals" One Finds in Evolutionary Biology Evelyn Fox Keller and Margaret S. Ewing Purpose, Gender and Evolution Mary Catherine Bateson

About the Author :
Matthew H. Nitecki is Curator and Doris V. Nitecki is Associate in the Department of Geology at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. They are the editors of History and Evolution, also published by SUNY Press.

Review :
"The authors have a wondrous capacity to recognize problems, to communicate ideas, and to do so with obvious enthusiasm and refined style. In today's jargon, this is a 'good read.' Reader interest is sustained by essays which tease the intellect and by logical argument that coaxes even the most narrowly-read, basic scientist to think about the broader problem." - David J. Simmons, University of Texas Medical Branch "With today's general interest in ethics, I think this is timely and important. There are few topics that are as significant as human morality and its basis. "One of the main strengths here is a balance of traditional thinking and modern insights. There is a real value in 'updating' the work of major scholars from the past and contrasting this with today's thinking." - Barrie Dale, University of Oslo