Introduction to Evolutionary Ethics

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.

“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)

• Introduction: A Philosopher and a Biologist Walk into a Bar . . . 1Part I. From “Selfish Genes” to Moral Beings: Moral Psychology after Darwin 71 Natural Selection and Human Nature 111.1 The Basic Story 111.2 Some Common Misunderstandings 151.3 Mother Nature as Tinkerer 161.4 Evolutionary Psychology and Human Nature 181.5 An Evolved Mental Tool-Box 191.6 Some (More) Common Misunderstandings 211.7 Conclusion 262 The (Earliest) Roots of Right 292.1 Together We Stand? 302.2 Inclusive Fitness and the “Gene’s-Eye” Point of View 322.3 Love Thy Neighbor – But Love Thy Family First 352.4 False Positives and Core Systems 372.5 A Quick Note on “Altruism” 392.6 Reciprocal Altruism 402.7 Conclusion 453 The Caveman’s Conscience: The Evolution of Human Morality 483.1 What Makes Moral Creatures Moral 493.2 The Evolution of Morality 573.3 Explaining the Nature of Moral Judgments 623.4 Conclusion 644 Just Deserts 664.1 The Ultimatum Game 674.2 The Public Goods Game 694.3 Winners Don’t Punish 714.4 The Benefits of Guilt 744.5 A Lamb among Lions? 774.6 An Explanation for All of Morality? 794.7 Universal Morality or Universal Reason? 814.8 Conclusion 845 The Science of Virtue and Vice 875.1 Distress Test 895.2 Mind-Reading 955.3 “Them’s the Rules” 985.4 Moral Innateness and the Linguistic Analogy 1005.5 Switchboards, Biases, and Affective Resonances 1055.6 Non-Nativist Doubts 1105.7 Conclusion 112Part II. From “What Is” to “What Ought To Be”: Moral Philosophy after Darwin 1176 Social Harmony: The Good, the Bad, and the Biologically Ugly 1216.1 From the Great Chain of Being, to the Tree of Life, to Morality 1216.2 Uprooting the Tree of Life 1267 Hume’s Law 1327.1 Deductively Valid Arguments 1337.2 You Can’t Get Out What You Don’t Put In 1367.3 “Of the Last Consequence” 1377.4 Blocking the Move from Might to Right 1387.5 Darwinism and Preserving the Human Species 1407.6 Conclusion 1418 Moore’s Naturalistic Fallacy 1438.1 The Open Question Test 1448.2 Failing the Open Question Test: Desiring to Desire 1458.3 Failing the Open Question Test: Spencer 1468.4 Failing the Open Question Test: Wilson 1478.5 Conclusion 1489 Rethinking Moore and Hume 1509.1 Some Preliminary Doubts about the Open Question Test 1509.2 What Things Mean vs. What Things Are 1529.3 Implications for Social Darwinism 1539.4 Forays across the Is/Ought Gap: Searle 1549.5 Forays across the Is/Ought Gap: Rachels 1559.6 Conclusion 15910 Evolutionary Anti-Realism: Early Efforts 16110.1 This Is Your Brain on God 16510.2 Preliminaries 16710.3 Wilson 16810.4 The Argument from Idiosyncrasy 17010.5 The Argument from Redundancy 17110.6 Causation, Justification, and . . . a Rotting Corpse 17310.7 Conclusion 17511 Contemporary Evolutionary Anti-Realism 17811.1 Napoleon Pills 17811.2 A Darwinian Dilemma 18111.3 Conclusion 18512 Options for the Evolutionary Realist 18712.1 Option 1: Learning Right from Wrong 18912.2 Option 2: Response Dependency 19012.3 Option 3: Virtue Ethics Naturalized 19312.4 Option 4: Moral Constructivism 19812.5 Objections to the Realist Options 20312.6 Conclusion 207Notes 211References 218Index 225