Evolutionary Ethics The International Library of Essays on Evolutionary Thought Series Editor: NeU Levy Titles in the Series: Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology: Volume I Stefan Linquist Evolutionary Psychology: Volume II Stefan Linquist and Neil Levy Evolutionary Ethics: Volume III Neil Levy The Evolution of Culture: Volume IV Stefan Linquist Intelligent Design and Religion as a Natural Phenomenon: Volume V John S. Wilhns Evolutionary Ethics Volume 111 Edited by Neil Levy Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Australia, and Oxford Centre for Neuroethics First published 2010 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 ThirdAvenue, NewYork, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint ofthe Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © Neil Levy 2010. For copyright of individual articles please refer to the Acknowledgements. All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing [rom the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Wherever possible, these reprints are made from a copy ofthe original printing, but these can themselves be ofvery variable quality. Whilst the publisher has made every effort to ensure the quality ofthe reprint, some variability may inevitably remain. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Evolutionary ethics. Volume 3. - (Internationallibrary of essays on evolutionary thought) I. Ethics, Evolutionary. T. Series TI. Levy, Neil, 1967- 171.7-dc22 Library ofCongress Control Number: 2009938975 ISBN 9780754627586 (hbk) Contents A cknowledgements vii Series Preface ix Introduction xi PART I PRECURSORS TO MORALITY 3 Jessica C. Flack and Frans B.M. de Waal, (2000) '''Any Animal Whatever": Darwinian Building Blocks ofMorality in Monkeys and Apes', Journal o{ Consciousness Studies, 7, pp. 1-29. 3 PART II MECHANISMS 2 Philip Kitcher (1998), 'Psychological Altruism, Evolutionary Origins, and Moral Rules', Philosophical Studies, 89, pp. 283-316. 35 3 Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson (2000), 'Summary of: "Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology ofUnselfish Behavior''', The Journal o{Consciousness Studies, 7, pp. 185-206. 69 4 Brian Skyrms (2000), 'Game Theory, Rationality and Evolution ofthe Social Contract', The Journal o{Consciousness Studies, 7, pp. 269-84. 91 5 Robert H. Frank (1987), 'If Homo Economicus Could Choose His Own Utility Function, Would He Want One with a Conscience?', The American Economic Review, 77, pp. 593-604. 107 PART III ALTRUISM 6 N even Sesardic (1995), 'Recent Work on Human Altruism and Evolution' , Ethics, 106, pp. 128-57. 121 7 Stephen Stich (2006), 'Evolution, Altruism and Cognitive Architecture: A Critique of Sober and Wilson's Argument for Psychological Altruism', Biology and Philosophy, 22, pp. 267-81. 151 PART IV META-ETHICS 8 Tamler Sommers and Alex Rosenberg (2003), 'Darwin's Nihilistic Idea: Evolution and the Meaninglessness of Life', Biology and Philosophy, 18, pp. 653-68. 169 9 Michael Ruse (1986), 'Evolutionary Ethics: A Phoenix Arisen', Zygon, 21, pp. 95-112. 185 vi Evolutionary Ethics 10 Richard Joyce (2000), 'Darwinian Ethics and Error', Biology and Philosophy, 15, pp. 713-32. 203 11 Sharon Street (2006), 'A Darwinian Dilemma for Realist Theories ofValue', Philosophical Studies, 127, pp. 109-66. 223 PART V NORMATIVE ETHICS 12 Robert J. Richards (1986), 'A Defense ofEvolutionary Ethics', Biology and Philosophy, 1, pp. 265-93. 283 13 Keith Sutherland and Jordan Hughes (2000), 'Is Darwin Right?', Journal of Consciousness Studies, 7, pp. 63-86. (Including Response by Larry Amhart.) 313 Name Index 337 Acknowledgements The editor and publishers wish to thank the following for perrnission to use copyright material. American EconomicAssociation for the essays: Robert H. Frank (1987), 'IfH omo Economicus Could Choose His Own Utility Function, Would He Want One with a Conscience?', The American Economic Review, 77, pp. 593-604. Copyright © 1987 American Economic Association. Imprint Academic for the essays: Jessica C. Flack and Frans B.M. de Waal, (2000) '''Any Animal Whatever": Darwinian Building Blocks of Morality in Monkeys and Apes', Journal of Consciousness Studies, 7, pp. 1-29. Copyright © 2000 Imprint Academic; Elliott Sober and David Sioan Wilson (2000), 'Summary of: "Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior"', The Journal ofConsciousness Studies, 7, pp. 185-206. Copyright © 2000 Imprint Academic; Brian Skyrrns (2000), 'Game Theory, Rationality and Evolution of the Social Contract', The Journal ofConsciousness Studies, 7, pp. 269-84. Copyright © 2000 Imprint Academic; Keith Sutherland and Jordan Hughes (2000), 'Is Darwin Right?', Journal ofConsciousness Studies, 7, pp. 63-86. (Including Response by Larry Amhart.) Copyright © 2000 Imprint Academic. John Wiley and Sons for the essay: Michael Ruse (1986), 'Evolutionary Ethics: A Phoenix Arisen', Zygon, 21, pp. 95-112. Copyright © 1986 John Wiley and Sons. Springer for the essays: Philip Kitcher (1998), 'Psychological Altruism, Evolutionary Origins, and Moral Rules', Philosophical Studies, 89, pp. 283-316. Copyright © 1998 Springer; Stephen Stich (2006), 'Evolution, Altruism and Cognitive Architecture: A Critique of Sober and Wilson's Argument for Psychological Altruism', Biology and Philosophy, 22, pp. 267-81. Copyright © 2006 Springer; Tarn ler Sommers and Alex Rosenberg (2003), 'Darwin 's N ihilistic Idea: Evolution and the Meaninglessness of Life', Biology and Philosophy, 18, pp. 653-68. Copyright © 2003 Springer; Richard Joyce (2000), 'Darwinian Ethics and Error', Biology and Philosophy, 15, pp. 713-32. Copyright © 2000 Springer; Sharon Street (2006), 'A Darwinian Dilemma for Realist Theories ofValues', Philosophical Studies, 127, pp. 109-66. Copyright © 2006 Springer; Robert 1. Richards (1986), 'A Defense of Evolutionary Ethics', Biology and Philosophy, 1, pp. 265-93. Copyright © 1986 Springer. The University of Chicago Press for the essay: Neven Sesardic (1995), 'Recent Work on Human Altruism and Evolution', Ethics, 106, pp. 128-57.Copyright © 1995 The University of Chicago Press. Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first opportun ity. This page intentionally left blank Series Preface The theory of evolution is one of science's great achievements. Though to those outside science, it may seem that the theory is controversial, within science there is no controversy at all about its basic form. Moreover, the theory of evolution plays a pivotal role in guiding new research. 'Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution', Theodosius Dobzhansky famously wrote; the theory of evolution unifies disparate subfields of biology and generates testable predictions for each. The success ofthe theory and its explanatory fecundity for biology cannot be doubted. But might the theory also be capable of iIIuminating phenomena outside the direct purview of biology? The volumes in this series are dedicated to exploring this question. They bring together some of the best writings of the past two decades which explore the relevance of evolution and evolutionarily-inspired thought to arenas of human life beyond the merely biological. Volumes focus on whether it is productive and iIIuminating to attempt to und erstand our most distinctive achievements and our most intimate features as evolved phenomena. [s the content of moral systems explained by evolution? To what extent are the processes of selection and reproduction that explain changes in gene frequencies also at work in explaining the reproduction of ideas? Can evolution shed light on why we think as we do, perceive as we do, even fee I as we do? Might even our idea of God - and perhaps with it the perennial temptation to reject evolution in the name of religion - be explained by evolutionary thought? Answering these questions requires not only a detailed grasp ofthe phenomena we aim to explain - the contours of religious thought, the features of morality, and so on - but also an understanding ofthe theory we aim to apply to the field. Though the theory of evolution is not itself controversial within science, there are lively controversies about its details. One volume ofthis theory is devoted to writings which iIIuminate these controversies and deepen our understanding ofthe mechanisms of evolution. [t is only if we have an appreciation of how evolution works that we can begin to assess attempts to extend its reach to culture, to the mind, to morality and to religion. The volumes are edited by experts in the philosophy of biology and include sensitive and thoughtful discussions ofthe material they contain. Naturally, in selecting the papers for inclusion, and given the large amount ofhigh quality thought on the philosophy ofbiology, and on each of the topics covered by these volumes, it was necessary to make some hard choices. Each editor has chosen to focus on particular controversies within the field covered by their volume; on each topic, a range of views is canvassed (including the views of those who deny that evolution can contribute much to the understanding of non-biological features of human beings). Evolution is our story; in coming to und erstand it, we come to understand ourselves. Readers of these volumes should be left with a deepened appreciation for the power and ambition of evolutionary thought, and with a greater understanding ofwhat it means to be an evolved being. NE[L LEVY Florey Neuroscience Institutes, Australia and University ofOxford, UK