The Evolution of Morality [electronic resource] /
Shackelford, Todd K.editor.
Hansen, Ranald D.editor.
This interdisciplinary collection presents novel theories, includes provocative re-workings of longstanding arguments, and offers a healthy cross-pollination of ideas to the morality literature. Structures, functions, and content of morality are reconsidered as cultural, religious, and political components are added to the standard biological/environmental mix. Innovative concepts such as the Periodic Table of Ethics and evidence for morality in non-human species illuminate areas for further discussion and research. And some of the book's contributors question premises we hold dear, such as morality as a product of reason, the existence of moral truths, and the motto "life is good."  Highlights of the coverage:  The tripartite theory of Machiavellian morality: judgment, influence, and conscience as distinct moral adaptations. Prosocial morality from a biological, cultural, and developmental perspective. The containment problem and the evolutionary debunking of morality. A comparative perspective on the evolution of moral behavior. A moral guide to depravity: religiously-motivated violence and sexual selection. Game theory and the strategic logic of moral intuitions. The Evolution of Morality makes a stimulating supplementary text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in the evolutionary sciences, particularly in psychology, biology, anthropology, sociology, political science, religious studies, and philosophy.
Description based upon print version of record.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Part I: Psychological Design and Development -- The Tripartite Theory of Machiavellian Morality: Judgment, Influence, and Conscience as Distinct Moral Adaptations -- Morality as Cooperation: A Problem-Centered Approach -- An Evolving and Developing Field of Study: Prosocial Morality from a Biological, Cultural, and Developmental Perspective -- Part II: Philosophy and Ethics -- Evolutionary Awareness: A Metacognitive Framework for Ethics -- The Containment Problem and the Evolutionary Debunking of Morality -- Life is Not Good -- Antinatalism in Biological and Cultural Evolution: Fertility and Suicide -- Part III: Animal Behavior and Comparative Psychology -- A Comparative Perspective on the Evolution of Moral Behavior -- Helping Another in Distress: Lessons from Rats -- Part IV: Religious beliefs and behavior -- A Moral Guide to Depravity: Religiously-Motivated Violence and Sexual Selection -- Disentangling Religion and Morality: An Analysis of religiosity in the United States -- Part V: Politics, Law, and Game Theory -- The Evolved Functions of Procedural Fairness: An Adaptation for Politics -- Property Law Reflections of a Sense of Right and Wrong -- Game Theory and Morality.
This interdisciplinary collection presents novel theories, includes provocative re-workings of longstanding arguments, and offers a healthy cross-pollination of ideas to the morality literature. Structures, functions, and content of morality are reconsidered as cultural, religious, and political components are added to the standard biological/environmental mix. Innovative concepts such as the Periodic Table of Ethics and evidence for morality in non-human species illuminate areas for further discussion and research. And some of the book's contributors question premises we hold dear, such as morality as a product of reason, the existence of moral truths, and the motto "life is good."  Highlights of the coverage:  The tripartite theory of Machiavellian morality: judgment, influence, and conscience as distinct moral adaptations. Prosocial morality from a biological, cultural, and developmental perspective. The containment problem and the evolutionary debunking of morality. A comparative perspective on the evolution of moral behavior. A moral guide to depravity: religiously-motivated violence and sexual selection. Game theory and the strategic logic of moral intuitions. The Evolution of Morality makes a stimulating supplementary text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in the evolutionary sciences, particularly in psychology, biology, anthropology, sociology, political science, religious studies, and philosophy.
Personality.
Social psychology.
Personality and Social Psychology.