The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Ethics

About this book

Evolutionary ethics – the application of evolutionary ideas to moral thinking and justification – began in the nineteenth century with the work of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer, but was subsequently criticized as an example of the naturalistic fallacy. In recent decades, however, evolutionary ethics has found new support among both the Darwinian and the Spencerian traditions. This accessible volume looks at the history of thought about evolutionary ethics as well as current debates in the subject, examining first the claims of supporters and then the responses of their critics. Topics covered include social Darwinism, moral realism, and debunking arguments. Clearly written and structured, The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Ethics guides readers through the arguments on both sides, and emphasises the continuing relevance of evolutionary theory to our understanding of ethics today.

Contents

Introduction Michael Ruse and Robert J. Richards

Part I. Historical:
1. Ethics, evolution and the a priori: Ross on Spencer and the French sociologists Hallvard Lillehammer
2. Nietzsche's rejection of nineteenth-century evolutionary ethics Jeffrey O'Connell
3. American pragmatism, evolution, and ethics Trevor Pearce
4. The path to the present Abraham H. Gibson
5. Social Darwinism and market morality: a modern-day view for evolutionary ethics Naomi Beck

Part II. For Evolutionary Ethics:
6. Darwinian evolutionary ethics Michael Ruse
7. Human morality: from an empirical puzzle to a metaethical puzzle Richard Joyce
8. Evolution and the epistemological challenge to moral realism Justin Horn
9. Evolutionary naturalism and valuation Richard A. Richards
10. Evolutionary ethics, a theory of moral realism Robert J. Richards
11. Moral mismatch and abolition Ben Fraser

Part III. Against Debunking Arguments:
12. Moral realism and evolutionary debunking arguments Russ Shafer-Landau
13. Why Darwinism does not debunk objective morality William J. FitzPatrick
14. Debunking arguments: mathematics, logic, and modal security Justin Clarke-Doane
15. Evolution and the missing link (in debunking arguments) Uri D. Leibowitz and Neil Sinclair
16. Better than our nature? Evolution and moral realism, justification and progress Michael Vlerick

Part IV. Elaborations:
17. Darwinian ethics: biological individuality and moral relativism Frédéric Bouchard
18. Evolutionary psychology, feminist critiques thereof, and the naturalistic fallacy Lynn Hankinson Nelson
19. A theological evaluation of evolutionary ethics Michael L. Peterson

Customer Reviews

Biography

Michael Ruse is Director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science at Florida State University. His publications include The Philosophy of Human Evolution (Cambridge, 2012), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Darwin and Evolutionary Thought (Cambridge, 2013), and Science, Evolution, and Religion (2016).

Robert J. Richards is Morris Fishbein Distinguished Service Professor in the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Chicago. His publications include Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior (1987), Was Hitler a Darwinian? Disputed Questions in the History of Evolutionary Theory (2013), and Debating Darwin (2016).


Contributors:
- Michael Ruse
- Robert J. Richards
- Hallvard Lillehammer
- Jeffrey O'Connell
- Trevor Pearce
- Abraham H. Gibson
- Naomi Beck
- Richard Joyce
- Justin Horn
- Richard A. Richards
- Robert J. Richards
- Ben Fraser
- Russ Shafer-Landau
- William J. FitzPatrick
- Justin Clarke-Doane
- Uri D. Leibowitz
- Neil Sinclair
- Michael Vlerick
- Frédéric Bouchard
- Lynn Hankinson Nelson
- Michael L. Peterson