|
|
|
| Name | Evolutionary Ethics: Value, Psychology, Strategy and Conventions |
| Author(s) | Chris MacDonald |
| Editor | |
| Year | 2001 |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Web Location | www.kli.ac.at/download/2001_7-1.pdf |
| Keywords | Ethics, convention, psychology, function, game theory. |
| Areas of Interest | Theory |
| Citation | MacDonald, Chris. 2001. Evolutionary Ethics: Value, Psychology, Strategy and Conventions. Evolution and Cognition 7 (1):98-105. |
| Summary | The purpose of this paper is to present an example of what moral theory would look like if it took evolutionary theory seriously. First, I examine briefly the implications that accepting evolutionary |
| Abstract / Description | The purpose of this paper is to present an example of what moral theory would look like if it took evolutionary theory seriously. First, I examine briefly the implications that accepting evolutionary theory has for value theory. Secondly, I suggest that an evolutionary perspective can shed new light on moral psychology. Finally, I suggest that an evolutionary perspective clears the way for a moral perspective that focuses on the function and development of Humean social conventions. I strive to avoid the errors to which so many previous attempts at grounding ethics in evolution have succumbed. If I succeed in doing so, it is because my intent is merely to show how Darwinian thinking improves the empirical basis upon which we construct moral theories. At no point do I try to derive foundational moral values either from nature in the broadest sense or from the process of evolution itself. |
| Publisher/Organization | Evolution and Cognition |
| Cluster Library | None |
|
|