Biology and the Foundations of Ethics (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology)

There has been much attention devoted in recent years to the question of whether our moral principles can be related to our biological nature. This collection of new essays focuses on the connection between biology and foundational questions in ethics. The book asks such questions as whether humans are innately selfish, and whether there are particular facets of human nature that bear directly on social practices. This is the first book to offer this historical perspective on the relation of biology and ethics, and has been written by some of the leading figures in the history and philosophy of science, whose work stands very much at the cutting edge of these disciplines. "Much attention has been devoted in recent years to the question of whether our moral principles can be related to our biological nature. This collection of new essays focuses on the connections between biology, in particular evolutionary biology, and foundational questions in ethics. The book asks, for example, whether humans are innately selfish and whether there are particular facets of human nature that bear directly on social practices." "The volume is organized historically, beginning with Aristotle and covering such major figures as Hume and Darwin down to the present and the work of Harvard sociobiologist E.O. Wilson. It is one of the first efforts to provide historical perspective on the relationships between biology and ethics, and it has been written by some of the leading figures in the history and philosophy of science, authors whose work is very much at the cutting edge of these disciplines."--Jacket Much attention has been devoted in recent years to the question of whether our moral principles can be related to our biological nature. This collection of new essays focuses on the connections between biology, in particular evolutionary biology, and foundational questions in ethics. The book asks, for example, whether humans are innately selfish and whether there are particular facets of human nature that bear directly on social practices. The volume is organized historically, beginning with Aristotle and covering such major figures as Hume and Darwin down to the present and the work of Harvard sociobiologist E. O. Wilson. It is one of the first efforts to provide historical perspective on the relationships between biology and ethics, and it has been written by some of the leading figures in the history and philosophy of science, authors whose work is very much at the cutting edge of these disciplines.