The  EVOLUTION  of  MORALITY FRAME 4   
Previous > A BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO EXPLAINING MORALITY

  • Biologists borrow from other disciplines in characterizing behavior as moral.

    cuckoo chick But which behaviors are "moral"? Here, biologists must proceed cautiously. One cannot even identify the relevant behaviors without a working concept of 'right' and 'wrong' or of 'morality'. Invoking a value judgment threatens to prejudice the whole endeavor. The biologist's proper approach is thereby indifferent and fluid, contingent on definitions of ethics identified by others. Biologists may encounter multiple conceptions of what is to be explained. Different benchmark definitions may yield separate, complementary explanations. Of course, biologists are accustomed to addressing the "same" phenomenon on multiple levels of organization: molecular and cellular, physiological, populational, ecological, evolutionary. Biologists have thus developed a suite of explanations which apply to different aspects of moral behavior.

  • Next

    End

    © 2008 EVOLUTIONofMORALITY.net