You are hereEvolutionary Origins of Morality: Cross-Disciplinary PerspectivesThorverton, Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic, 2000. 352 pages. Four lengthy essays — by primatologists Jessica Flack and Frans de Waal, cultural anthropologist Christopher Boehm, philosopher Elliot Sober and evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson, and philosopher Brian Skyrms — plus no fewer than 43 short commentaries, all revolving around the evolutionary origins of morality. Noam Chomsky comments, "Thoughtful and informative, (the essays) provide a good basis for appreciating what has been achieved, and what the prospects might be, in a domain of inquiry that is of fundamental importance for understanding our essential nature." The Temptation of Evolutionary EthicsBerkeley: University of California Press, 1998. 224 pages. In The Temptation of Evolutionary Ethics, Farber details the history of three flurries of excitement about evolutionary ethics. The first appeared in the aftermath of the publication of The Origin of Species; the second emerged from the cultural chaos following World War I, and the third arrived with the development of sociobiology in the late 20th century. Pessimistic about the prospects for evolutionary ethics, Farber contends that its practitioners are likely to repeat the same philosophical mistakes time after time. Issues in Evolutionary EthicsAlbany, NY: SUNY Press, 1995. 444 pages. From the publisher: "This book explores historical and current discussion of the relevance of evolutionary theory to ethics. The historical section conveys the intellectual struggle that took place within the framework of Darwinism from its inception up to the work of GC Williams, WD Hamilton, RD Alexander, RL Trivers, EO Wilson, R Dawkins, and others. The contemporary section discusses ethics within the framwork of evoltuionary theory as enriched by the works of biologists such as those mentioned above." Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of DarwinismNew York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 256 pages. In Created from Animals, philosopher James Rachels poses the provocative question "What sort of moral view is consistent with a Darwinian understanding of nature and man's place in it?" His thoughtful answer takes the reader through chapters on evolution, ethics and morals, religion, and human-nonhuman relations. "Evolutionary biologists will likely be fascinated with his explanation", wrote Eugenie C Scott in her review for the Journal of Human Evolution. The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of CooperationLondon: Penguin Books, 1998. 304 pages. "Our minds have been built by selfish genes, but they have been built to be social, trustworthy and cooperative." A paradox? Not according to Matt Ridley, the author of The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature. His richly multidisciplinary discussion of the science behind human morality scintillates with anecdote and wit. Richard Dawkins exclaims, "If my Selfish Gene were to have a volume two devoted to humans, The Origins of Virtue is pretty much what I think it ought to look like." Genes, Genesis and God: Values and their Origins in Natural and Human HistoryCambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 420 pages. According to Michael Ruse, writing in RNCSE (1999 Sep/Oct; 19[5]: 38-42), Genes, Genesis and God is "a full and fair natural theological attempt to understand modern biology and its relevance for social, ethical, and religious thought. Although I shall have things critical to say about this book... the author came through as a learned and humane man who has taken seriously his project, and who exhibits intelligence and sensitivity in everything that he writes." Based on the author's 1997 Gifford Lectures. Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish BehaviorCambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. 416 pages. In Unto Others, philosopher Elliott Sober and biologist David Sloan Wilson team up to try to reconcile altruism with those scientific discoveries that seem to depict nature as "red in tooth and claw". In the first half, they deal with the prima facie evolutionary objection to altruism by arguing for the feasibility of group selection. In Mendel's Mirror: Philosophical Reflections on BiologyOxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. 410 pages. From the publisher: "Philip Kitcher is one of the leading figures in the philosophy of science today. Here he collects, for the first time, many of his published articles on the philosophy of biology, spanning from the mid-1980s to the present. ... Kitcher's articles cover a broad range of topics with similar philosophical and social significance: sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, species, race, altruism, genetic determinism, and the rebirth of creationism in Intelligent Design. Toward a New Philosophy of BiologyCambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988. 575 pages. "Too often in the past the biologists have ignored the analyses of the philosophers, and the philosophers have ignored the discoveries of the biologists," Ernst Mayr writes in the preface to his now-classic 1988 book. "My hope is that this book will help to strengthen the bridge between biology and philosophy, and point to the direction in which a new philosophy of biology will move." "Toward a New Philosophy of Biology is a book to be developed, to be argued with, a book whose margin should be filled with excited scribblings," wrote the reviewer for Nature. Philosophy of Biology, second editionBoulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000. 236 pages. Commenting on the first edition of Sober's book, David L. Hull wrote, "Elliott Sober has written Philosophy of Biology as an introductory text, and as such it succeeds admirably. But in addition to addressing more popular controversies such as sociobiology and creationism, he also motivates, elucidates, and even advances the current debates among his peers. As always, Sober's exposition is clear and penetrating." The second edition (2000) brings the text up to date. Pages
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