How can the discoveries made in the biological sciences play a role in a discussion on the foundation of ethics? This book responds to this question by examining how evolutionism can explain and justify the existence of ethical normativity and the emergence of particular moral systems. Written by a team of philosophers and scientists, the essays collected in this volume deal with the limits of evolutionary explanations, the justifications of ethics, and methodological issues concerning evolutionary accounts of ethics, among other topics. They offer deep insights into the origin and purpose of human moral capacities and of moral systems.
Author(s): Giovanni Boniolo, Gabriele De Anna
Series: Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 220
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Contributors......Page 11
Introduction......Page 15
REFERENCES......Page 24
I The Limits of Evolutionary Explanations and Justifications of Ethics......Page 25
NORMATIVE ETHICS......Page 27
METAETHICS......Page 29
SOCIAL DARWINISM......Page 30
PROGRESS......Page 32
ETHICAL SKEPTICISM......Page 33
OBJECTIFICATION......Page 35
SPIRITUALISM......Page 36
PROGRESS AGAIN......Page 37
REFERENCES......Page 39
MORAL CAPACITY......Page 41
Darwin's Theory of the Genesis of the Enabling Conditions for Moral Capacity......Page 43
Darwin's Theory on the Genesis of the Different Moral Judgments......Page 48
The Consequences of a Darwinian Approach to the Moral Capacity......Page 51
CONCLUSION......Page 53
REFERENCES......Page 54
II Methodological Issues Concerning Evolutionary Accounts of Ethics......Page 55
3 Are Human Beings Part of the Rest of Nature?......Page 57
REFERENCES......Page 68
INTRODUCTION......Page 70
Character Comparison: Concepts and Application......Page 71
The Evo-Devo Approach and Modularity......Page 73
Homology and the Study of Brain and Behavior......Page 76
Theories of CNS Evolution......Page 77
The Quantitative Approach......Page 79
Evolutionary Reasoning: Adaptation, Exaptation, Coevolution......Page 81
REFERENCES......Page 83
III How Biological Results Can Help Explain Morally Relevant Human Capacities......Page 89
5 Genetic Influences on Moral Capacity: What Genetic Mutants Can Teach Us......Page 91
GENETIC INFLUENCES......Page 93
Human Monogenic Diseases......Page 95
Monogenic Abnormalities in Mice......Page 97
Human Polygenic Diseases......Page 100
PHILOSOPHICAL REMARKS ON GENETIC EVIDENCE......Page 102
REFERENCES......Page 106
6 Evolutionary Psychopharmacology, Mental Disorders, and Ethical Behavior......Page 111
PSYCHIATRY, ETHICS, AND FUNCTIONS......Page 113
The Evolution of Psychotropic Drug Consumption......Page 120
Evolutionary Explanations in Psychiatry......Page 122
Psychotropic Drugs and the Adaptive Significance of Psychiatric Symptoms......Page 125
Evolutionism, Pharmacogenetics, and Pharmacogenomics......Page 128
Specificity of Drug Action and Integrative Aspects of Biological and Adaptive Functions......Page 129
The Individual Function......Page 130
REFERENCES......Page 132
7 The Biology of Human Culture and Ethics: An Evolutionary Perspective......Page 135
THE NATURE-NURTURE DEBATE......Page 137
DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF OUR NATURE......Page 139
DARWINISM AND SEXUAL SELECTION THEORY......Page 142
THE BIOLOGICAL ROOTS OF SOCIAL NORMS AND ETHICS......Page 147
CONCLUSION......Page 149
REFERENCES......Page 151
IV How Biological Results Can Help Explain Moral Systems......Page 153
HUMAN ORIGINS......Page 155
HUMANKIND’S DISTINCTIVE TRAITS......Page 157
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION VERSUS CULTURAL EVOLUTION......Page 159
ETHICAL BEHAVIOR VERSUS ETHICAL NORMS......Page 161
BIOLOGICAL ROOTS OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOR......Page 163
ETHICAL NORMS: BEYOND BIOLOGY......Page 167
REFERENCES......Page 171
BIOLOGICAL ALTRUISM......Page 173
PSYCHOLOGICAL ALTRUISM......Page 176
THE RELATION BETWEEN BIOLOGY AND MORALITY......Page 179
THE FRAGILITY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ALTRUISM AND PEACEMAKING STRATEGIES......Page 182
THE EVOLUTION OF A CAPACITY FOR NORMATIVE GUIDANCE......Page 184
REFERENCES......Page 191
THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND “JUST-SO STORIES”......Page 192
GENOMICS AND THE EXPLANATION OF THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR......Page 194
THE EXPLANATORY CONTRIBUTION OF HEREDITARY AND GENETIC DEFECTS IN HUMANS......Page 204
SIMPLE GENES RESPONSIBLE FOR BEHAVIORS IN ANIMALS......Page 207
HOW TO EXPLAIN THE EVOLUTION OF COMPLEX HUMAN BEHAVIORAL DISPOSITIONS......Page 209
REFERENCES......Page 211
Index......Page 213
