Introduction to Normative Issues
"Adaptations to universal features of our world are apt to escape our notice simply because we do not observe anything with which such adaptations stand in contrast."
Books
Introductory Readings
Barrow, The Artful Universe, 1995
Bradie, The Secret Chain, 1994
"… the first book to specifically focus upon the relationship between evolutionary ethics and evolutionary epistemology. The literature is filled with controversy largely due to scholars pulling from both traditions without careful regard for their differences and presuppositions. Bradie uses his analytic philosophical training to clarify the positions of virtually every scholar, from the eighteenth century to the present time, who has had something important to say about the relationship between evolution and ethics. As if this superb philosophical reconstruction were not enough, Bradie also develops a position of his own that will surely attract as much attention as the works of Michael Ruse, Robert Richards, R. D. Alexander, E. O. Wilson, and Peter Singer." (David Edward Shaner)
Anthologies
Dolins, Attitudes to Animals, 1999
This thought-provoking book asks what it is to be human, what to be animal, and what are the natures of the relationships between them. This is accomplished with philosophical and ethical discussions, scientific evidence and dynamic theoretical approaches. Attitudes to Animals will also encourage us to think not only of our relationships to non-human animals, but also of those to other, human, animals. This book provides a foundation that the reader can use to make ethical choices about animals. It will challenge readers to question their current views, attitudes and perspectives on animals, nature and development of the human-animal relationship. Human perspectives on the human-animal relationships reflect what we have learned, together with spoken and unspoken attitudes and assumptions, from our families, societies, media, education and employment.
Contributors: Charles Bergman, Donald M. Broom, Richard W. Byrne, David E. Cooper, David Dewhurst, Francine Dolins, Susan D. Healy, M. Patricia Hindley, James E. King, Phyllis Passariello, Andrew J. Petto, Karla D. Russell, James Serpell, David Shepherdson, Martin J. Tovie, Henk Verhoog, Francoise Wemelsfelder, Robert J. Young.
Maienschein/Ruse, Biology and the Foundations of Ethics, 1999
This collection of new 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.
Contributors: Michael Bradie, Raphael Falk, Paul Farber, Jean Gayon, Myles Jackson, James G. Lennox, Jane Maienschein, Daniel McShea, Robert J. McShea, Diane Paul, Robert J. Richards, Michael Ruse, Phillip Sloan, Marga Vicedo, Peter Woolcock.
Thompson, Issues in Evolutionary Ethics, 1995
Explores historical and current discussions of the relevance of evolutionary theory to ethics. The historical section conveys the intellectual struggle that took place within the framework of Darwinism from its inception up to the work of G. C. Williams, W. D. Hamilton, R. D. Alexander, A. L. Trivers, E. O. Wilson, R. Dawkins, and others. The contemporary section discusses ethics within the framework of evolutionary theory as enriched by the works of biologists such as those mentioned above. The issue of whether ethical practice and ethical theory can be grounded in the theory of evolution has taken a new and significant direction within the context of sociobiology and is proving to be a challenge to previous thinking.
• Nitecki/Nitecki, Evolutionary Ethics, 1993
• Stent, Morality as a Biological Phenomenon, 1978
Selected monographs
Arnhart, Darwinian Natural Right, 1998
Argues that Darwinian biology supports an Aristotelian view of ethics as rooted in human nature. Defending a conception of "Darwinian natural right" based on the claim that the good is the desirable, the author argues that there are at least twenty natural desires that are universal to all human societies because they are based in human biology. The satisfaction of these natural desires constitutes a universal standard for judging social practice as either fulfilling or frustrating human nature, although prudence is required in judging what is best for particular circumstances. The author studies the familial bonding of parents and children and the conjugal bonding of men and women as illustrating social behavior that conforms to Darwinian natural right. He also studies slavery and psychopathy as illustrating social behavior that contradicts Darwinian natural right. He argues as well that the natural moral sense does not require religious belief, although such belief can sometimes reinforce the dictates of nature.
Farber, The Temptations of Evolutionary Ethics, 1994
Describes a century-old philosophical hope held by many biologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and social thinkers: that universal ethical and social imperatives are built into human nature and can be discovered through knowledge of evolutionary theory. Farber describes three upsurges of enthusiasm for evolutionary ethics. The first came in the early years of mid-nineteenth century evolutionary theories; the second in the 1920s and '30s, in the years after the cultural catastrophe of World War I; and the third arrived with the recent grand claims of sociobiology to offer a sound biological basis for a theory of human culture. Unlike many who have written on evolutionary ethics, Farber considers the responses made by philosophers over the years. He maintains that their devastating criticisms have been forgotten – thus the history of evolutionary ethics is essentially one of oft-repeated philosophical mistakes.
Periodicals
Biology and Philosophy (1985— )
[TOCs]
(Quarterly; Kluwer.) Aimed at a broad readership, drawn from both the sciences and the humanities. Subscribes to no particular school of biology or philosophy, welcoming submissions from authors of all persuasions, and all disciplines.
Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research Newsletter (1988— )
158 Goya Road, Portola Valley, CA 94028, USA. Fax +1 650 854 1192.
Journal of Ethics (1997— )
An International Philosophical Review
(Quarterly; available online; Kluwer.) Seeks to publish articles on a wide range of topics in ethics, philosophically construed, including such areas as ethical theory, moral, social, political, and legal philosophy. Although primarily an organ of philosophical research, it publishes work on topics of concern to academics and professionals in a wide range of fields.
Journal of Medicine and Philosophy
A Forum for Bioethics and Philosophy of Medicine
(Bimonthly; Swets.) Explores the shared themes and concerns of philosophy and the medical sciences. Central issues in medical research and practice have important philosophical dimensions, for in treating disease and promoting health, medicine involves presuppositions about human goals and values. Conversely, the concerns of philosophy often significantly relate to those of medicine, as philosophers seek to apprehend the nature of knowledge and the human condition in the modern world. In addition, recent developments in medical technology and treatment raise ethical problems that overlap with philosophical interests. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy aims to provide an ongoing forum for the discussion of these themes and issues.
Journal of Value Inquiry (1967— )
[TOCs (March 1995— )]
(Quarterly; available online; Kluwer.) An international, peer-reviewed, philosophical quarterly devoted to the stimulation and communication of research in value studies. The essays published concern the nature, origin, experiences and scope of value in general, as well as problems of value in such fields as culture, aesthetics, religion, social and legal theory or practice, ethics, education, and methodology, technology and the sciences. It is committed to openness, cosmopolitanism, and the sharing of insights about humanity. Besides full-length essays, the journal publishes notes, communications to the editors, book reviews, interviews, dialogues, reports, and a News column.
(Bi-monthly; St. Louis University.) A multidisciplinary forum for the publication of articles and discussions of issues arising out of the relationship between human behavior and the law, legal system, and legal process. The journal encourages submission of papers from people in the fields of law and psychology, and the related disciplines of sociology, criminology, psychiatry, political science, anthropology, philosophy, history, economics, communication, and other appropriate disciplines. Law and Human Behavior comprises five main sections: Articles, Comments, Research Issues in Practice, Adversary Forum, and Book Review Essays.
Politics and the Life Sciences (PLS)
[TOCs (July 1982— )]
(Semi-annual. Association for Politics and the Life Sciences.) Peer-reviewed, with readers in more than twenty countries. Publishes articles, commentaries, program and organizational profiles, conference reports, teaching reports, book reviews, lists of recent books and articles, and news and announcements. Most journal issues also include at least one "roundtable," a package consisting of an article, multiple commentaries by diverse experts, and a response from the original author. Recent issues of PLS have addressed such topics as chemical and biological terrorism, physician-assisted suicide, regulation of biotechnology, controlling the proliferation of biological weapons, the evolutionary roots of political rhetoric, deception in politics, feminism and the evolutionay sciences, neuroscience and political intolerance, adolescent sexuality and public policy, world population policy, human nature and crime control, pregnancy and substance abuse, regulating assisted reproduction, evolution and ethnic group formation, regulating germ-line gene therapy, and responding to global environmental challenges.
Societies and Institutes
Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research (USA)
Brings together an interdisciplinary network of scholars from the United States and Europe and fosters multidisciplinary research and teaching designed to integrate law, economics and the social sciences, with biology. The scholars and scientists associated with the Institute see a need for informed scientific knowledge as a foundation of the social sciences, including the law. They believe that this interplay will lead to an enrichment of the social sciences, as well as legal philosophy, and to a legal practice more aware of scientific knowledge. To this end, education and better communication among lawyers, social scientists, and biologists are the primary aims of the Institute.
Society for Evolutionary Analysis in Law (SEAL) (USA)
A scholarly association dedicated to fostering interdisciplinary exploration of issues at the intersection of law, biology, and evolutionary theory, improving the models of human behavior relevant to law, and promoting the integration of life science and social science perspectives on law-relevant topics through scholarship, teaching, and empirical research. Relevant disciplines include, among others, evolutionary and behavioral biology, cognitive science, complex adaptive systems, economics, evolutionary psychology, behavioral ecology, behavioral genetics, primatology, evolutionary anthropology, and gender relations. SEAL welcomes all those with serious scholarly interests in evolutionary processes and law.
Projects
Exploring the Relationship between Visual Complexity and Perceived Beauty <!--http://www.imlab.psu.edu/complex/ z.Zt. nicht auffindbar, vielleicht nur aus Versehen gelùscht -->
(Brian Orland, Edward Weidemann, Larissa Larsen, and Paul Radja, Imaging Systems Laboratory, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Other resources
Environmental ethics websites (Holmes Rolston III)
Etica & Animali: Advancing the Great Ape Project
This special issue of Etica & Animali, devoted to the Great Ape Project, bears witness to the vitality of, and widespread support for, the view that other great apes are our moral equals. In this volume, authors from a variety of cultural backgrounds, including the continental intellectual tradition, discuss and develop the view. The question as to the moral standing of the nonhuman great apes is positioned within contemporary debates in evolutionary biology, philosophy of mind, anthropology and applied ethics. Furthermore, discussion of notions such as bicultural citizenship, moral space, and collective rights to resources, provides a basis for framing and implementing the extended sphere of moral equals so that justice might be secured for the nonhuman great apes. The issue also includes descriptions of some individual attempts to improve on the current situation of nonhuman great apes. The respective authors believe that no piecemeal approach to securing justice for nonhuman great apes is likely to be particularly successful. Moving from a theory of universal human rights — arguably the ethical paradigm of the present — to a theory of universal anthropoid rights requires significant changes to dominant worldviews.
Evolving Artificial Moral Ecologies
(Peter Danielson, William Harms, and Rik Blok)
An extension of a project started by Peter Danielson some years ago under the title "artificial morality." The emphasis in the current project is more on the payoff driven dynamics of the dissemination of strategies in cultures and biological communities and less on normative decisions of rational agents. The project seeks to extend current work in the evolution of cooperation by the considered inclusion of spatial elements and resource dependency into the models. It also deliberately seeks to integrate agent-based and population approaches to modeling evolutionary processes.
