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  1. Home
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  3. Biology and the Foundations of Ethics
  • Cited by 9
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
July 2010
Print publication year:
1999
Online ISBN:
9780511609077
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511609077
Subjects:
History of Science, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy, General Science
Series:
Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology
Information

Book description

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 essays focuses on the connection between biology, in particular evolutionary 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. The volume is organised 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. 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.

Reviews

"Evolution is present in some essays, but the general effort of the contributors - 'to ground ethics in nature' - provides a profitable read on the important issues in biology and science, especially for biologists, philosophers and social scientists." Research News and Opportunities in Science and Theology

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