Evolutionary Ethics and Contemporary Biology

Description

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.

Giovanni Boniolo is Full Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of Padua. He is the author of many articles and books, including Metode e rappresentaazioni del mondo. Per un'altra Filosofia della scienze and, with P. Viali, Filosofia della scienza and Strumenti per ragionare. Gabriele de Anna is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Udine. She is the author of Realismo metafisico e rappresentazione mentale and Il pensiero filosofico e politico de Sebastiana De Apollonia.

Review of the hardback: 'I recommend this volume to philosophers and scientists interested in evolutionary ethics and its relationships to contemporary biology. It succeeds in presenting a wide range of plausible evolutionarily and biologically based explanations of aspects of morality and, in the cases of Kitcher and Rosenberg, two very promising complementary accounts of its origins.' History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences Review of the hardback: 'Evolutionary Ethics and Contemporary Biology is a welcome contribution that raises pressing questions and offers insightful responses that scientists and philosophers alike would do well to grapple with.' The Journal of Value Inquiry