In Johan De Smedt & Helen De Cruz (eds.), Empirically Engaged Evolutionary Ethics. Springer - Synthese Library. pp. 89-109 (2021)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
The dominant theory of the evolution of moral cognition across a variety of fields is that moral cognition is a biological adaptation to foster social cooperation. This chapter argues, to the contrary, that moral cognition is likely an evolutionary exaptation: a form of cognition where neurobiological capacities selected for in our evolutionary history for a variety of different reasons—many unrelated to social cooperation—were put to a new, prosocial use after the fact through individual rationality, learning, and the development and transmission of social norms. This chapter begins with a brief overview of the emerging behavioral neuroscience of moral cognition. It then outlines a novel theory of moral cognition that I have previously argued explains these findings better than alternatives. Finally, it shows how the evidence for this theory of moral cognition and human evolutionary history together suggest that moral cognition is likely not a biological adaptation. Instead, like reading sheet music or riding a bicycle, moral cognition is something that individuals learn to do—in this case, in response to sociocultural norms created in our ancestral history and passed down through the ages to enable cooperative living.
|
Keywords | moral realism mental time-travel cooperation ethics evolution moral foundations theory naturalism moral cognition altruism metaethics fairness |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Buy the book |
Find it on Amazon.com
|
DOI | 10.1007/978-3-030-68802-8_5 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception: Classic Edition.James J. Gibson - 1979 - Houghton Mifflin.
View all 259 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
No citations found.
Similar books and articles
The Containment Problem and the Evolutionary Debunking of Morality.Tyler Millhouse, Lance S. Bush & David Moss - 2016 - Evolution of Morality.
How Moral Facts Cause Moral Progress.Andrés Luco - 2019 - Journal of the American Philosophical Association 5 (4):429-448.
Neurofunctional Prudence and Morality: A Philosophical Theory.Marcus Arvan - 2020 - New York, USA: Routledge.
Evolution and Moral Realism.Kim Sterelny & Ben Fraser - 2016 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 68 (4):981-1006.
Dimensions of Moral Theory: An Introduction to Metaethics and Moral Psychology.Jonathan Jacobs - 2002 - Wiley-Blackwell.
Evolution and Moral Diversity.Tim Dean - 2012 - The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication 7:1-16.
Evolution, Naturalism, and the Worthwhile: A Critique of Richard Joyce's Evolutionary Debunking of Morality.Christopher Toner - 2011 - Metaphilosophy 42 (4):520-546.
Mind Reading, Deception and the Evolution of Kantian Moral Agents.Alejandro Rosas - 2004 - Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 34 (2):127–139.
Evolutionary Intuitionism: A Theory of the Origin and Nature of Moral Facts.Brian Zamulinski - 2007 - Mcgill-Queen's University Press.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2021-05-05
Total views
52 ( #216,128 of 2,498,795 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
17 ( #48,566 of 2,498,795 )
2021-05-05
Total views
52 ( #216,128 of 2,498,795 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
17 ( #48,566 of 2,498,795 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads