Philosophy and the Evolution of Virtue and Vice: (Routledge Studies in Ethics and Moral Theory)

This volume explores what evolutionary theory can contribute to our philosophical understanding of virtue and vice.

The last twenty years have seen an uptick in philosophical discussions of the biological and cultural evolution of morality. Yet, there has been surprisingly little discussion of virtue ethics and the evolution of human character, even though human virtues are almost certainly one of the markers of our species’ distinctive sociality. This volume investigates the evolution of human character traits and its implications for moral philosophy and value theory. The chapters address central questions such as: To what extent can evolutionary theories explain virtue, vice, or specific virtues/vices? Are philosophical accounts of virtue compatible with evolutionary explanations? How might tensions between them be resolved? What implications might the evolution of virtue have concerning debates in value theory more broadly? What implications does the evolution of virtue have for living well in the digital age? And how can we re-engineer the conceptual machinery of virtue/vice to our advantage? The volume serves as a first step toward evaluating the influence of evolution on human conceptions of what kind of people we ought to be.

Philosophy and the Evolution of Virtue and Vice will appeal to researchers and graduate students working in normative ethics, virtue ethics, metaethics, moral psychology, philosophy of social science, philosophy of biology, and evolutionary theory.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Evolving Characters, Michael T. Dale and Isaac Wiegman

Part I: Theoretical Frameworks: The Mechanics of Evolved Character

1. Characterizing Humans: The Co-Evolution of Virtue, Armin Schulz

2. The Cooperative Account of the Rise of Virtues, Brian Robinson

3. The Evolution of Malice and Envy, Rory Smead and Patrick Forber

4. Situationism and the Evolution of Spite, Isaac Wiegman and Michael T. Dale

Part II: Sentimental Foundations

5. Evolution and Moral Sentimentalism, Michael Slote

6. Emotional Plasticity and the Development of Virtue, Charlie Kurth

7. From Appeasement to Virtue: A Confucian Response to the Evolutionary Origins of Shame, Qiannan Li

8. Irrational Virtue, Unnatural Vice, Iskra Fileva

Part III: Justice and the Communal Architecture of Virtue

9. Evolution and Interpersonal Justice, Mark LeBar

10. Social and Individual Learning in the Epistemic State of Nature, Justin P. Bruner

11. Virtues and the Moral Division of Labor, Ron Mallon

12. Retributive Justice, Free Will, and Evolutionary Naturalism, John Lemos

Part IV: Applied Ethics: Evolving Characters in the Digital Age

13. Can We Learn to be Virtuous from the Vicious? On Moral Learning and the Pedagogical Value of Antihero Protagonists, Maria Waggoner and Daniel Kelly

14. The Sociality Solution: Virtue, Vice, and Community, Jill B. Delston

15. The Tribalism Trap: Overcoming Political Polarization in an Age of Outrage, Joshua May

16. Borg Virtue Ethics, Howard J. Curzer and Joel D. Velasco.

Index

Michael T. Dale is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Hampden-Sydney College. His research focuses on moral psychology and the evolution of morality.

Isaac Wiegman is an Associate Professor of Instruction at Texas State University. His work explores the evolution of morally interesting traits like revenge, disgust, spite, and reciprocity.