An Introduction to Evolutionary Ethics

Offering the first general introductory text to this subject, the timely Introduction to Evolutionary Ethics reflects the most up-to-date research and current issues being debated in both psychology and philosophy. The book presents students to the areas of cognitive psychology, normative ethics, and metaethics. The first general introduction to evolutionary ethics Provides a comprehensive survey of work in three distinct areas of research: cognitive psychology, normative ethics, and metaethics Presents the most up-to-date research available in both psychology and philosophy Written in an engaging and accessible style for undergraduates and the interested general reader Discusses the evolution of morality, broadening its relevance to those studying psychology

Table of Contents:
Introduction: A Philosopher and a Biologist Walk into a Bar . . . 1 Part I. From “Selfish Genes” to Moral Beings: Moral Psychology after Darwin 7 1 Natural Selection and Human Nature 11 1.1 The Basic Story 11 1.2 Some Common Misunderstandings 15 1.3 Mother Nature as Tinkerer 16 1.4 Evolutionary Psychology and Human Nature 18 1.5 An Evolved Mental Tool-Box 19 1.6 Some (More) Common Misunderstandings 21 1.7 Conclusion 26 2 The (Earliest) Roots of Right 29 2.1 Together We Stand? 30 2.2 Inclusive Fitness and the “Gene’s-Eye” Point of View 32 2.3 Love Thy Neighbor – But Love Thy Family First 35 2.4 False Positives and Core Systems 37 2.5 A Quick Note on “Altruism” 39 2.6 Reciprocal Altruism 40 2.7 Conclusion 45 3 The Caveman’s Conscience: The Evolution of Human Morality 48 3.1 What Makes Moral Creatures Moral 49 3.2 The Evolution of Morality 57 3.3 Explaining the Nature of Moral Judgments 62 3.4 Conclusion 64 4 Just Deserts 66 4.1 The Ultimatum Game 67 4.2 The Public Goods Game 69 4.3 Winners Don’t Punish 71 4.4 The Benefits of Guilt 74 4.5 A Lamb among Lions? 77 4.6 An Explanation for All of Morality? 79 4.7 Universal Morality or Universal Reason? 81 4.8 Conclusion 84 5 The Science of Virtue and Vice 87 5.1 Distress Test 89 5.2 Mind-Reading 95 5.3 “Them’s the Rules” 98 5.4 Moral Innateness and the Linguistic Analogy 100 5.5 Switchboards, Biases, and Affective Resonances 105 5.6 Non-Nativist Doubts 110 5.7 Conclusion 112 Part II. From “What Is” to “What Ought To Be”: Moral Philosophy after Darwin 117 6 Social Harmony: The Good, the Bad, and the Biologically Ugly 121 6.1 From the Great Chain of Being, to the Tree of Life, to Morality 121 6.2 Uprooting the Tree of Life 126 7 Hume’s Law 132 7.1 Deductively Valid Arguments 133 7.2 You Can’t Get Out What You Don’t Put In 136 7.3 “Of the Last Consequence” 137 7.4 Blocking the Move from Might to Right 138 7.5 Darwinism and Preserving the Human Species 140 7.6 Conclusion 141 8 Moore’s Naturalistic Fallacy 143 8.1 The Open Question Test 144 8.2 Failing the Open Question Test: Desiring to Desire 145 8.3 Failing the Open Question Test: Spencer 146 8.4 Failing the Open Question Test: Wilson 147 8.5 Conclusion 148 9 Rethinking Moore and Hume 150 9.1 Some Preliminary Doubts about the Open Question Test 150 9.2 What Things Mean vs. What Things Are 152 9.3 Implications for Social Darwinism 153 9.4 Forays across the Is/Ought Gap: Searle 154 9.5 Forays across the Is/Ought Gap: Rachels 155 9.6 Conclusion 159 10 Evolutionary Anti-Realism: Early Efforts 161 10.1 This Is Your Brain on God 165 10.2 Preliminaries 167 10.3 Wilson 168 10.4 The Argument from Idiosyncrasy 170 10.5 The Argument from Redundancy 171 10.6 Causation, Justification, and . . . a Rotting Corpse 173 10.7 Conclusion 175 11 Contemporary Evolutionary Anti-Realism 178 11.1 Napoleon Pills 178 11.2 A Darwinian Dilemma 181 11.3 Conclusion 185 12 Options for the Evolutionary Realist 187 12.1 Option 1: Learning Right from Wrong 189 12.2 Option 2: Response Dependency 190 12.3 Option 3: Virtue Ethics Naturalized 193 12.4 Option 4: Moral Constructivism 198 12.5 Objections to the Realist Options 203 12.6 Conclusion 207 Notes 211 References 218 Index 225

About the Author :
Scott M. James is Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. He has published work on evolutionary ethics in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research and the Australasian Journal of Philosophy.

Review :
“Recommended for all undergraduate libraries in the sciences and humanities.”  (Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith, 1 March 2013) "In the end, I think this is a valuable book mixing an analytic philosophical approach with some interesting biology. I personally found the book faltering only because it takes, perhaps unnecessarily, a very orthodox adaptationist stance. Evolutionary ethics should take the whole of evolutionary biology seriously into account, not only a biased version of it." (Metapsychology, 20 February 2012) "Balanced and comprehensive, it should be the definitive text for many years". (Star News Online Blogs, 22 December 2010)