Biological and Cultural Evolution as Components of Ethical Behavior

1. Biological and Cultural Evolution as Components of Ethical Behavior Francisco J. Ayala University of California, Irvine

2. Charles Darwin The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex We must acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the solar system—with all these exalted powers—Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.

5. Metaethics:Why we ought to do what we ought to do. Normative ethics:What we ought to do. Practical ethics:Moral norms applied to particular situations.

6. Metaethical Doctrines Moral realism:There are moral facts. Our moral judgments are made true or false by the moral facts. Divine command:God’s commanding is what makes a particular action moral. Utilitarianism:Does the most expected good to the largest number of people. Positivism:No rational foundations for morality. Emotional decisions or social agreement. Libertarianism:Maximize personal freedom.

7. St. Thomas Aquinas:Three components of moral law Divine command e.g., Worship only one God Love your neighbor Natural law e.g., Don’t kill Don’t commit adultery Civil authority e.g., Respect private property Pay taxes

9. Evolutionary ethics: Herbert Spencer Julian Huxley C.H. Waddington E.O. Wilson: Sociobiology Evolutionary psychology

10. Evolutionary ethics: Herbert Spencer: Social Darwinism Struggle for existence determines evolutionary progress Moral law = Struggle for existence Critique (Thomas Huxley): Naturalistic fallacy Identifying what “is” with what “ought to be” (D. Hume, 1740; G.E. Moore, 1903)

11. Evolutionary ethics: Julian Huxley,Evolution and Ethics, 1947 C.H. Waddington,The Ethical Animal,1960

12. Evolutionary ethics: Sociobiology. On Human Nature,1977 Evolutionary psychology

14. An animal with well-defined social instincts —like parental and filial affections—‘‘would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well, or nearly as well developed, as in man.’’ Darwin,Descent of Man

15. I do not wish to maintain that any strictly social animal, if its intellectual faculties were to become as active and as highly developed as in man, would acquire the same moral sense as ours. . . . [T]hey might have a sense of right and wrong, though led by it to follow widely different lines of conduct. Darwin,Descent of Man

16. Ethics • Capacity for ethics (evaluating actions as good or evil) • Codes of ethics (norms by which we judgea particular action)

17. Ethics Capacity for ethics (evaluating actions as good or evil) Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action) Language Capacity for symbolic verbal communication Particular languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, …

18. Capacity for ethics(evaluating actions as good or evil) Ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s actions Ability to make value judgments Ability to choose between alternative courses of action

19. Capacity for ethics(evaluating actions as good or evil) Ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s actions

20. Tool Making Enlarged Brain Bipedal Gait

21. Capacity for ethics(evaluating actions as good or evil) Ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s actions Ability to make value judgments

22. Capacity for ethics(evaluating actions as good or evil) Ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s actions Ability to make value judgments Ability to choose between alternative courses of action

23. Ethics • Capacity for ethics (evaluating actions as good or evil) • Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action)

24. Ethics Capacity for ethics (evaluating actions as good or evil) Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action) Language Capacity for symbolic verbal communication Particular languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, …

25. Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action): Cultural evolution

26. Heredity + Variation + Differential reproduction (natural selection) = Evolution

27. Variation among individuals Variation among groups Variation from one to another time Codes of ethics (norms by which we judge a particular action):

28. Cultural selection: imitation, learning, assimilation Example: monotheism Moses and the Ten Commandments Enforced by civil authority Reinforced by divine authority Codes of ethics:

29. Cultural evolution: vastly more efficient means of adaptation than biological evolution. • More rapid.Potentially to all mankind in less than one generation. • Directed mutations(inventions and discoveries), which occur at high frequency. • Cumulative.Adaptations added without replacement. • Group selection.Humans take into account the benefits to the group (because it also benefits them).

30. Conclusions Capacity of ethics:Biological evolution Codes of ethics:Cultural evolution (including religion)

31. Darwin’s Moral Optimism: There can be no doubt that a tribe including many members who, from possessing in a high degree the spirit of patriotism, fidelity, obedience, courage, and sympathy, were always ready to give aid to each other and to sacrifice themselves for the common good, would be victorious over most other tribes; and this would be natural selection. At all times throughout the world tribes have supplanted other tribes; and as morality is one element in their success, the standard of morality and the number of well-endowed men will thus everywhere tend to rise and increase. Darwin, Descent of Man

32. Thank you!