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Empirically Engaged Evolutionary Ethics pp 111–134Cite as

Social Animals and the Potential for Morality: On the Cultural Exaptation of Behavioral Capacities Required for Normativity

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Abstract

To help bridge the explanatory gap of how normativity branched off into morality in the course of evolutionary history, I claim that morality is a form of social normativity, specifically a form of cultural normativity. Furthermore, with the origins of its behavioral capacities rooted in normative practice, morality should be considered as an exaptation, a secondary adaptation shaped through cultural selection and evolution. Cultural selection pressures differ across social groups, as well as various species. Empirical evidence has shown that animals other than humans are capable of normative behavior, and that they can also be subject to processes of cultural transmission. With an inclusive approach to defining social behaviors, I argue that non-human, socio-cultural animals can engage in moral behavior.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The application of epigenetics to morality has been made before (for example, Wilson, 1998), although future studies should also expand on the potential for a change in moral behavior (gene expression/phenotype) without affecting genotype, within non-human animal populations that engage in cultural practices.

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Acknowledgements

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to those who have helped me make this paper possible. I am extremely grateful for the mentorship and guidance I received from Kristin Andrews, without whom I would not have found my passion for such research, nor the knowledge of where to start. I am also deeply appreciative of the encouragement from the editors, Helen De Cruz and Johan De Smedt, who provided me with direct support, especially during the final stages of this work. Finally, I am thankful for all those I was able to speak to about these ideas (in classes, at conference presentations, or otherwise), as well as for those who read previous drafts and were patient with my thinking process/writing progress.

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  1. Department of Philosophy, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, Canada

    Estelle Palao

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  1. Estelle Palao
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Correspondence to Estelle Palao .

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    Johan De Smedt

  2. Danforth Chair in the Humanities, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Helen De Cruz

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Palao, E. (2021). Social Animals and the Potential for Morality: On the Cultural Exaptation of Behavioral Capacities Required for Normativity. In: De Smedt, J., De Cruz, H. (eds) Empirically Engaged Evolutionary Ethics. Synthese Library, vol 437. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68802-8_6

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