EVOLUTIONofMORALITY.net -- An Introduction
Edited by Douglas Allchin   
The "Evolution of Morality" website aims to profile morality/moral behavior in an evolutionary context and to provide support for teaching about it in a standard introductory biology course. There are four main sections:
"Why?" [PDF]
Scientific, humanistic and political reasons why this topic is essential for every introductory biology course, whether in high school or college.
— Go online for an analysis of current textbooks.

Scientific Overview
Written in textbook style, as a prospective supplement for current texts (included in this download). It has five main sections:
  1. A Biological Approach to Morality
  2. Moral Outcomes (Behavioral Genetics)
  3. Moral Motive or Intent (Psychology & Neurophysiology)
  4. Moral Systems (Sociality & Communication)
  5. Applying Biological Perspectives
Begin Illustrated Text Presentation
Go to complete text || Image-only Presentation
Print text [PDF]

Books
Brief essay review of over 2 dozen books available to non-scientists. [PDF]

Classroom Resources
Images! Video clips! Websites! --the stuff to help visualize and render all the concepts and content for students.— plus teaching tips for the classroom.

Go to ImageBank, included in download.

Open supplemental essays [PDF]:
"Was Darwin a Social Darwinist?"
explores Darwin's views on the morality and its evolutionary origins
"Social Un-Darwinism"
explores the origin of the concept inaptly named term "Social Darwinism," touching on Hobbes, Malthus and Spencer
"A More Fitting Analogy"
explores the metaphoric meanings in the phrase "survival of the fittest" — and some less misleading alternatives
"Naturalizing as an Error-Type in Biology"
explores how we can inscribe cultural biases into scientific interpretations of nature, for example turning the "normal" into the "natural"; addresses the concepts of male and female, developmental "monsters," competition as integral to natural selection, and "laws" of nature.
"Why We Need to Teach the Evolution of Morality"
Why, indeed? ...for intellectual, cultural, political and historical reasons.
"Books on the Evolution of Morality"
a brief survey for teachers
"Teaching Strategies"
guidance for the initiate

© Copyright 2009 by Douglas Allchin. All material may be freely used in non-profit contexts for educational purposes. Editing of text for personal institutional use is permitted if original author and source is attributed. See ImageBank for image credits.

EVOLUTIONofMORALITY.net