About the Book
This title includes four principal papers and a total of 43 peer commentaries on the evolutionary origins of morality.
Table of Contents:
Editor's Introduction Leonard D. Katz, Toward Good and Evil: Evolutionary Approaches to Aspects of Human Morality Section 1. Primate Evolutionary Continuities versus Human Uniqueness Principal paper Jessica C. Flack and Frans B.M. de Waal, 'Any Animal Whatever': Darwinian Building Blocks of Morality in Monkeys and Apes Commentary discussion of principal paper I.S. Bernstein, The Law Of Parsimony Prevails: Missing Premises Allow Any Conclusion Josep Call, Intending and Perceiving: Two Forgotten Components of Social Norms Margaret Gruter and Monika Gruter Morhenn, Building Blocks of Legal Behaviour: The Evolution of Law Sandra Guth and Werner Guth, Morality Based on Cognition in Primates Jerome Kagan, Human Morality Is Distinctive Hans Kummer, Ways Beyond Appearances Jim Moore, Morality and the Elephant: Prosocial Behaviour, Normativity, and Fluctuating Allegiances Peter Railton, Darwinian Building Blocks B. Thierry, Building Elements of Morality Are Not Elements of Morality John Troyer, Human and Other Natures Response to commentary discussion Jessica C. Flack and Frans B.M. de Waal, Being Nice Is Not a Building Block of Morality Section 2. How, When and Why Did the Unique Aspects of Human Morality Arise? Principal paper Christopher Boehm, Conflict and the Evolution of Social Control Commentary discussion of principal paper Christoph Antweiler, Morality as Adaptive Problem-Solving for Conflicts of Power I.S. Bernstein, Logic and Human Morality: An Attractive if Untestable Scenario Donald Black, On the Origin of Morality Alan Carling, Boehm's Golden Age: Equality and Consciousness in Early Human Society Robert Knox Dentan, Puzzling Questions, Not Beyond All Conjecture: Boehm's 'Evolutionary Origins Of Morality' Peter M. Gardner, Which Culture Traits Are Primitive? Bruce M. Knauft, Symbols, Sex and Sociality In the Evolution of Human Morality Dennis Krebs, As Moral As We Need To Be B. Thierry, Group Sanctions Without Social Norms? Lionel Tiger, The Internal Triangle Response to commentary discussion Christopher Boehm, The Origin of Morality as Social Control Section 3. Are We Really Altruists? Principal paper Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson, Summary of Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior Commentary discussion of principal paper C. Daniel Batson, Unto Others: A Service ... and a Disservice Christopher Boehm, Group Selection in the Upper Palaeolithic Herbert Gintis, Group Selection and Human Prosociality Gilbert Harman, Can Evolutionary Theory Provide Evidence Against Psychological Hedonism? K.N. Laland, F.J. Odling-Smee and Marcus W. Feldman, Group Selection: A Niche Construction Perspective Iver Mysterud, Group Selection, Morality, and Environmental Problems Randolph M. Nesse, How Selfish Genes Shape Moral Passions Leonard Nunney, Altruism, Benevolence and Culture Alex Rosenberg, The Problem of Enforcement: Is There an Alternative to Leviathan? William A. Rottschaefer, It's Been a Pleasure, But That's Not Why I Did It: Are Sober and Wilson Too Generous Toward Their Selfish Brethren? Lori Stevens, Experimental Studies of Group Selection: A Genetical Perspective Ian Vine, Selfish, Altruistic, or Groupish? Natural Selection and Human Moralities Amotz Zahavi, Altruism: The Unrecognized Selfish Traits Response to commentary discussion Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson, Morality and Unto Others Section 4. Can Fairness Evolve? Principal paper Brian Skyrms, Game Theory, Rationality and Evolution of the Social Contract Commentary discussion of principal paper Gary E. Bolton, Motivation and the Games People Play Jeffrey P. Carpenter, Blurring the Line Between Rationality and Evolution Justin D'Arms, When Evolutionary Game Theory Explains Morality, What Does It Explain? Herbert Gintis, Classical versus Evolutionary Game Theory Sandra Guth and Werner Guth, Rational Deliberation versus Behavioural Adaptation: Theoretical Perspectives and Experimental Evidence William Harms, The Evolution of Cooperation in Hostile Environments Dennis Krebs, Evolutionary Games and Morality Gary Mar, Evolutionary Game Theory, Morality and Darwinism Randolph M. Nesse, Strategic Subjective Commitment Christopher D. Proulx, Distributive Justice and the Nash Bargaining Solution Response to commentary discussion Brian Skyrms, Adaptive Dynamic Models and the Social Contract Index
Review :
"What would happen at a fictional dinner with the likes of Charles Darwin, Adam Smith, David Hume, and Friedrich Nietzsche debating and revising their views in the light of today's science? Hard to say, perhaps, but one might well imagine that it would be great fun to listen in. Forget fiction. Pick up Evolutionary Origins of Morality and find out how moral psychology is being picked apart by evolutionists. The concise essays and critical exchanges are great fun -- and a feast for the mind." -- Marc Hauser "The papers are without exception excellent... It is hard to imagine a better start than the essays collected here for the new enterprise of applying evolutionary and primatological findings to the study of morality." Biology and Philosophy "A fascinating set of essays." Human Nature Review "Provides a wonderfully rich range of viewpoints from a variety of fields." Journal of Moral Education "Psychologists will find much to enjoy in this meaty volume." APA Review of Books "Thoughtful and informative,... a good basis for appreciating what has been achieved, and what the prospects might be, in a domain of inquiry that is of fundamental importance for understanding of our essential nature." -- Noam Chomsky
