biological and cultural evolution as components of ethical behavior francisco j. ayala university of...
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Biological and Cultural Evolution as Components of Ethical Behavior
Francisco J. AyalaUniversity of California, Irvine
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We must acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar system—with all these exalted powers—Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.
Charles DarwinThe Descent of Man, and Selection in
Relation to Sex
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Metaethics: Why we ought to do what we ought to do.
Normative ethics: What we ought to do.
Practical ethics: Moral norms applied to particular situations.
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Moral realism: There are moral facts. Our moral judgments are made true or false by the moral facts.
Divine command: God’s commanding is what makes a particular action moral.
Utilitarianism: Does the most expected good to the largest number of people.
Positivism: No rational foundations for morality. Emotional decisions or social agreement.
Libertarianism: Maximize personal freedom.
Metaethical Doctrines
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St. Thomas Aquinas:Three components of moral law
Divine commande.g., Worship only one God
Love your neighbor
Natural lawe.g., Don’t kill
Don’t commit adultery
Civil authoritye.g., Respect private
property Pay taxes
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Evolutionary ethics:Herbert SpencerJulian HuxleyC.H. WaddingtonE.O. Wilson: SociobiologyEvolutionary psychology
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Herbert Spencer: Social DarwinismStruggle for existence determines evolutionary progressMoral law = Struggle for existence
Critique (Thomas Huxley): Naturalistic fallacyIdentifying what “is” with what “ought to be”
(D. Hume, 1740; G.E. Moore, 1903)
Evolutionary ethics:
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Evolutionary ethics:
Julian Huxley, Evolution and Ethics, 1947
C.H. Waddington, The Ethical Animal, 1960
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Evolutionary ethics:
Sociobiology. On Human Nature, 1977
Evolutionary psychology
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An animal with well-defined social instincts —like parental and filial affections—‘‘would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well, or nearly as well developed, as in man.’’
Darwin, Descent of Man
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I do not wish to maintain that any strictly social animal, if its intellectual faculties were to become as active and as highly developed as in man, would acquire the same moral sense as ours. . . . [T]hey might have a sense of right and wrong, though led by it to follow widely different lines of conduct.
Darwin, Descent of Man
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Ethics1. Capacity for ethics
(evaluating actions as good or evil)
2. Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action)
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Ethics1. Capacity for
ethics (evaluating actions as good or evil)
2. Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action)
Language1. Capacity for
symbolic verbal communication
2. Particular languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, …
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1.Ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s actions
2.Ability to make value judgments
3.Ability to choose between alternative courses of action
Capacity for ethics(evaluating actions as good or evil)
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1.Ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s actions
Capacity for ethics(evaluating actions as good or evil)
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Bipedal
Gait
ToolMaking
EnlargedBrain
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1.Ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s actions
2.Ability to make value judgments
Capacity for ethics(evaluating actions as good or evil)
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1.Ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s actions
2.Ability to make value judgments
3.Ability to choose between alternative courses of action
Capacity for ethics(evaluating actions as good or evil)
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Ethics
1. Capacity for ethics (evaluating actions as good or evil)
2. Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action)
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Ethics1. Capacity for
ethics (evaluating actions as good or evil)
2. Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action)
Language1. Capacity for
symbolic verbal communication
2. Particular languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, …
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Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action): Cultural evolution
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Heredity + Variation + Differential reproduction (natural selection) = Evolution
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Variation among individualsVariation among groupsVariation from one to another
time
Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action):
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Cultural selection: imitation, learning, assimilation
Example: monotheism
Moses and the Ten Commandments
Enforced by civil authorityReinforced by divine authority
Codes of ethics:
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More rapid. Potentially to all mankind in less than one generation.
Directed mutations (inventions and discoveries), which occur at high frequency.
Cumulative. Adaptations added without replacement.
Group selection. Humans take into account the benefits to the group (because it also benefits them).
Cultural evolution: vastly more efficient means of adaptation than biological evolution.
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Conclusions
Capacity of ethics: Biological evolution
Codes of ethics: Cultural evolution (including religion)
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Darwin’s Moral Optimism:
There can be no doubt that a tribe including many members who, from possessing in a high degree the spirit of patriotism, fidelity, obedience, courage, and sympathy, were always ready to give aid to each other and to sacrifice themselves for the common good, would be victorious over most other tribes; and this would be natural selection. At all times throughout the world tribes have supplanted other tribes; and as morality is one element in their success, the standard of morality and the number of well-endowed men will thus everywhere tend to rise and increase.
Darwin, Descent of Man
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Thank you!
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