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The Biology of Moral Systems

Aldine de Gruyter (1987)

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  1. The sociopath: Cheater or warrior hawk?Kent G. Bailey - 1995 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18 (3):542-543.
    Mealey's excellent target article rests on several assumptions that may be questioned, including the overarching assumption that sociopathy reflects the failure of a small minority of males to cooperate with the larger group. I suggest that violent competition in ancestral bands cheatinggame was the primary evolutionary precursor of sociopathy. Today's violent sociopath is far more a than a failed cooperator.
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  • Beyond the Sociobiological Dilemma: Social Emotions and the Evolution of Morality.Alejandro Rosas - 2007 - Zygon 42 (3):685-700.
    Is morality biologically altruistic? Does it imply a disadvantage in the struggle for existence? A positive answer puts morality at odds with natural selection, unless natural selection operates at the level of groups. In this case, a trait that is good for groups though bad for individuals can evolve. Sociobiologists reject group selection and have adopted one of two horns of a dilemma. Either morality is based on an egoistic calculus, compatible with natural selection; or morality continues tied to psychological (...)
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  • Science and subjective feelings.Dale Jamieson - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):25-26.
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  • Heuristics and counterfactual self-knowledge.Adam Morton - 1993 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 16 (1):63-64.
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  • Why do good hunters have higher reproductive success?Eric Alden Smith - 2004 - Human Nature 15 (4):343-364.
    Anecdotal evidence from many hunter-gatherer societies suggests that successful hunters experience higher prestige and greater reproductive success. Detailed quantitative data on these patterns are now available for five widely dispersed cases (Ache, Hadza, !Kung, Lamalera, and Meriam) and indicate that better hunters exhibit higher age-corrected reproductive success than other men in their social group. Leading explanations to account for this pattern are: (1) direct provisioning of hunters’ wives and offspring, (2) dyadic reciprocity, (3) indirect reciprocity, (4) costly signaling, and (5) (...)
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  • Fairness Expectations and Altruistic Sharing in 15-Month-Old Human Infants.Marco F. H. Schmidt & Jessica A. Sommerville - 2011 - PLoS ONE 6 (10):e23223.
    Human cooperation is a key driving force behind the evolutionary success of our hominin lineage. At the proximate level, biologists and social scientists have identified other-regarding preferences – such as fairness based on egalitarian motives, and altruism – as likely candidates for fostering large-scale cooperation. A critical question concerns the ontogenetic origins of these constituents of cooperative behavior, as well as whether they emerge independently or in an interrelated fashion. The answer to this question will shed light on the interdisciplinary (...)
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  • Obligation and the new naturalism.Roger D. Masters - 1989 - Biology and Philosophy 4 (1):17-32.
    Although it has become increasingly evident that an adequate theory of obligation must rest on evolutionary biology and human ethology, attempts toward this end need to explore the full range of personal, cultural, and political obligations observed in our species. The new naturalism reveals the complexity of social behavior and the defects of reductionist models that oversimplify the foundations of human duties and rights. Ultimately, this approach suggest a return to the Aristotelian concept of natural justice.
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  • Review of The Social Psychology of Morality. [REVIEW]Michael Klenk - 2016 - Metapsychology Online 20 (48):1-8.
    If you put chimpanzees from different communities together you can expect mayhem - they are not keen on treating each other nicely. There is closely related species of apes, however, whose members have countless encounters with unrelated specimen on a daily basis and yet almost all get through the day in one piece - that species is us, homo sapiens. But what makes us get along, most of the time? Morality as such is, perhaps surprisingly, not a mainstream research topic (...)
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  • On the existence of altruistic value and utility functions.Jay Simon - 2016 - Theory and Decision 81 (3):371-391.
    Altruism is a popular economic explanation for a wide range of pro-social decisions and actions. It has been applied frequently in several different streams of literature, and is a descriptively compelling model of behavior. This paper provides a theoretical framework for the existence of ordinal and cardinal altruistic value functions, as well as altruistic utility functions, based on an altruistic preference relation. Representation theorems are developed to specify relatively weak conditions under which altruistic value and utility functions can be shown (...)
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  • Testing major evolutionary hypotheses about religion with a random sample.David Sloan Wilson - 2005 - Human Nature 16 (4):382-409.
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  • Is Morality an Elegant Machine or a Kludge?Stephen Stich - 2006 - Journal of Cognition and Culture 6 (1-2):181-189.
    In a passage in A Theory of Justice, which has become increasingly influential in recent years, John Rawls (1971) noted an analogy between moral phi- losophy and grammar. Moral philosophy, or at least the first stage of moral philosophy, Rawls maintained, can be thought of as the attempt to describe our moral capacity – the capacity which underlies “the poten- tially infinite number and variety of [moral] judgments we are prepared..
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  • Altruism and the golden rule.Jonathan Goodman - 2014 - Zygon 49 (2):381-395.
    This essay addresses recent claims about the compatibility of the sociobiological theory of reciprocal altruism with standard Western formulations of the Golden Rule. Derek Parfit claims that the theory of reciprocal altruism teaches us to be “reciprocal altruists,” who benefit only those people from whom we can reasonably expect benefits in the future. The Golden Rule, on the other hand, teaches us to benefit anyone regardless of their intention or ability to return the favor, or as Parfit puts it, the (...)
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  • Consumer demand: Can we deal with differing priorities?P. Monaghan - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):29-30.
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  • Age differences between mates in southern African pastoralists.Henry Harpending - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (1):102-103.
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  • Human Beings as Evolved Nepotists.Steve Stewart-Williams - 2008 - Human Nature 19 (4):414-425.
    Inclusive fitness theory provides a compelling explanation for the evolution of altruism among kin. However, a completely satisfactory account of non-kin altruism is still lacking. The present study compared the level of altruism found among siblings with that found among friends and mates and sought to reconcile the findings with an evolutionary explanation for human altruism. Participants (163 males and 156 females) completed a questionnaire about help given to a sibling, friend, or mate. Overall, participants gave friends and mates as (...)
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  • Behavioral ecology of conservation in traditional societies.Bobbi S. Low - 1996 - Human Nature 7 (4):353-379.
    A common exhortation by conservationists suggests that we can solve ecological problems by returning to the attitudes of traditional societies: reverence for resources, and willingness to assume short-term individual costs for long-term, group-beneficial sustainable management. This paper uses the 186-society Standard Cross-Cultural Sample to examine resource attitudes and practices. Two main findings emerge: (1) resource practices are ecologically driven and do not appear to correlate with attitude (including sacred prohibition) and (2) the low ecological impact of many traditional societies results (...)
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  • Evolution and literary theory.Joseph Carroll - 1995 - Human Nature 6 (2):119-134.
    Presupposing that all knowledge is the study of a unitary order of nature, the author maintains that the study of literature should be included within the larger field of evolutionary theory. He outlines four elementary concepts in evolutionary theory, and he argues that these concepts should regulate our understanding of literature. On the basis of these concepts, he repudiates the antirealist and irrationalist views that, under the aegis of “poststructuralism,” have dominated academic literary studies for the past two decades. He (...)
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  • Group differences ≢ individual differences.C. S. Bergeman & A. D. Seroczynski - 1995 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18 (3):546-548.
    Mealey's etiological distinction between primary and secondary sociopathy blurs the delineation between individual and group differences. She uses physiological evidence to support her claim of genetic influences, neglecting variability within social classes, frequency of delinquent behavior in upper and middle classes (measured by self-report), and discontinuity of criminal behavior across the life span. Finally, Mealey's proposals for differential intervention fall short of a future agenda, which should tailor to individual needs, not social classes.
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  • On the brain and personality substrates of psychopathy.Jaak Panksepp, Brian Knutson & Laura Bird - 1995 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18 (3):568-570.
    Further understanding at neuroscientific and personality levels should considerably advance our ability to deal with individuals that have strong sociopathic tendencies. An analysis of neurodynamic responses to emotional stimuli will eventually be able to detect sociopathic tendencies of the brain. Such information could be used to enhance the options available to individuals at risk without limiting their personal freedoms.
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  • Consumer demand theory and animal welfare: Value and limitations.Tina Widowski - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):45-45.
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  • “Perceived cost” may reveal frustration, but not boredom.Françoise Wemelsfelder - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):44-44.
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  • Fatherless rearing leads to sociopathy.David T. Lykken - 1995 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18 (3):563-564.
    Endorsing Mealey's analysis, it is pointed out that increasing rates of crime and violence are due to increasing proportions of children being reared in circumstances radically different from the extendedfamily environment to which we are evolntionarily adapted, that is, they are reared without fathers.
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  • The attribution of suffering.William Timberlake - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):38-40.
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  • Marital choice and reproductive strategies.Robert Schoen - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (1):109-109.
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  • The May-September algorithm meets the 20th century actuarial table.Gwen J. Broude - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (1):94-95.
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  • Permanent Group Membership.Frans L. Roes - 2014 - Biological Theory 9 (3):318-324.
    This article is divided into two main sections. The first discusses “Female Inheritance and the Male Retention Hypothesis.” Permanent groups (groups with no inherent limit on group longevity) exist in several species because over generations members share important interests. Considering the association between cooperation and degree of relatedness, it seems to follow that a collective interest is more likely to be achieved when members show a higher degree of relatedness. I argue that if membership is inherited by only one sex, (...)
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  • Consumer demand theory and social behavior: All chickens are not equal.Joy A. Mench & W. Ray Stricklin - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):28-28.
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  • Continuing a long tradition.Donald A. Dewsbury - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (1):98-98.
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  • Accounting for age preferences in sexual selection.Arie J. van Noordwijk & Jacqui A. Shykoff - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (1):117-118.
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  • Individual differences in the propensity to rape.Vernon L. Quinsey - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (2):400-400.
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  • Unexplained cooperation.Eva Jaffro & Cédric Paternotte - 2021 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 11 (3):1-21.
    Social evolution theory provides a wide array of successful evolutionary explanations for cooperative traits. However and surprisingly, a number of cases of unexplained cooperative behaviour remain. Shouldn’t they cast doubt on the relevance of the theory, or even disconfirm it? This depends on whether the theory is akin to a research programme such as adaptationism, or closer to a theory – a set of compatible, confirmable hypotheses. In order to find out, we focus on the two main tenets of social (...)
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  • Ethological motivational theory as a basis for assessing animal suffering.John Archer - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):12-13.
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  • On building bridges between social psychology and evolutionary biology.Richard Lippa - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (1):104-105.
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  • Does rape equal sex plus violence?Aurelio J. Figueredo - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (2):384-385.
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  • Supernaturalizing Social Life.Matt J. Rossano - 2007 - Human Nature 18 (3):272-294.
    This paper examines three ancient traits of religion whose origins likely date back to the Upper Paleolithic: ancestor worship, shamanism, and the belief in natural and animal spirits. Evidence for the emergence of these traits coincides with evidence for a dramatic advance in human social cooperation. It is argued that these traits played a role in the evolution of human cooperation through the mechanism of social scrutiny. Social scrutiny is an effective means of reducing individualism and enhancing prosocial behavior. Religion’s (...)
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  • Implications of an evolutionary biopsychosocial model.Harmon R. Holcomb - 1995 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 18 (3):559-560.
    Mealey's work has several interesting implications: It refutes the charge that sociobiology paints a cynical portrait of human nature and adopts a one-sided reductionism; it exemplifies a general theoretical scheme for constructing evolutionary biopsychosocial models of human behavior; and it has the practical effect of promoting and informing early intervention in children at risk for psychopathic disorder.
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  • A reexamination of Gilligan’s analysis of the female moral system.Nancy S. Coney & Wade C. Mackey - 1997 - Human Nature 8 (3):247-273.
    Gilligan’s (1982) refinement of Kohlberg’s theory on moral development operates on two theses: (1) females, more so than males, reach moral decisions based on the personalities of the relevant individuals; and (2) female behaviors stemming from moral decisions are based upon “care” and “responsibility for others.” This article accepts the first thesis but argues that the second is incorrect. That is, self-interest—i.e., aiding “blood” kin and/or carefully monitoring reciprocity—rather than “altruism” is argued to be the operant dynamic in forging distaff (...)
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  • Learning that there is life after death.L. Harris Paul & Astuti Rita - 2006 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 29 (5):475-476.
    Bering's argument that human beings are endowed with a cognitive system dedicated to forming illusory representations of psychological immortality relies on the claim that children's beliefs in the afterlife are not the result of religious teaching. We suggest four reasons why this claim is unsatisfactory.
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  • Political Alliance Formation and Cooperation Networks in the Utah State Legislature.Connor A. Davis, Daniel Redhead & Shane J. Macfarlan - 2022 - Human Nature 33 (1):1-21.
    Social network analysis has become an increasingly important tool among political scientists for understanding legislative cooperation in modern, democratic nation-states. Recent research has demonstrated the influence that group affinity (homophily) and mutual exchanges (reciprocity) have in structuring political relationships. However, this literature has typically focused on political cooperation where costs are low, relationships are not exclusive, and/or partisan competition is high. Patterns of legislative behavior in alternative contexts are less clear and remain largely unexamined. Here, we compare theoretical expectations of (...)
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  • Supernatural punishment and individual social compliance across cultures.Pierrick Bourrat, Quentin Atkinson & Robin Dunbar - 2011 - Religion, Brain and Behavior 1 (2):119-134.
    Cooperation for the public good is vulnerable to exploitation by free-riders because it always pays individuals to exploit the social contract for their own benefit. This problem can be resolved if free-riders are punished, but punishment is itself a public good subject to free-riding. The fear of supernatural punishment hypothesis (FSPH) proposes that belief in supernatural punishment might offer a solution to this problem by deflecting the cost of punishment onto supernatural forces and thereby incentivizing cooperation. FSPH is supported empirically (...)
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  • A experiência perceptual na perspectiva da teoria da percepção direta.Mariana Claudia Broens - 2017 - Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology 21 (2):223-233.
    The objective of this paper is to analyse the concept of skilful action underlying the studies of perceptual experience, especially the visual one, from the perspective of the theory of direct perception. The problem we propose to investigate can be formulated as follows: what are the possible contributions of the concept of affordance to understand the nature of skilful actions generally attributed to processes resulting from internal representations or mental models? In particular, we will try to investigate to what extent (...)
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  • The Relation between Kin and Multilevel Selection: An Approach Using Causal Graphs.Samir Okasha - 2016 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 67 (2):435-470.
    Kin selection and multilevel selection are alternative approaches for studying the evolution of social behaviour, the relation between which has long been a source of controversy. Many recent theorists regard the two approaches as ultimately equivalent, on the grounds that gene frequency change can be correctly expressed using either. However, this shows only that the two are formally equivalent, not that they offer equally good causal representations of the evolutionary process. This article articulates the notion of an ‘adequate causal representation’ (...)
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  • Singer's intermediate conclusion.Frank Jackson - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):24-25.
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  • Who suffers?P. D. Wall - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):43-44.
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  • May/December romance: Adaptive significance non probabilis est.Christopher A. Moffatt & Randy J. Nelson - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (1):106-107.
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  • Evolutionary hypothesis testing: Consistency is not enough.Kim Wallen - 1992 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 15 (1):118-119.
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  • Gopnik's invention of intentionality.Carl N. Johnson - 1993 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 16 (1):52-53.
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  • God’s punishment and public goods.Dominic D. P. Johnson - 2005 - Human Nature 16 (4):410-446.
    Cooperation towards public goods relies on credible threats of punishment to deter cheats. However, punishing is costly, so it remains unclear who incurred the costs of enforcement in our evolutionary past. Theoretical work suggests that human cooperation may be promoted if people believe in supernatural punishment for moral transgressions. This theory is supported by new work in cognitive psychology and by anecdotal ethnographic evidence, but formal quantitative tests remain to be done. Using data from 186 societies around the globe, I (...)
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  • Methodological Consilience of Evolutionary Ethics and Cognitive Science of Religion.Juraj Franek - 2016 - Journal of Cognition and Culture 16 (1-2):144-170.
    For the larger part of modern western intellectual history, it has been assumed that the study of morality and religion requires special methodology, insulated from, and in some important aspects incongruent with, the scientific method commonly used in the realm of natural sciences. Furthermore, even if it would be granted that moral and religious behavior is amendable to scientific analysis, the prospects of using evolutionary theory in particular to do the heavy lifting in explanation of these phenomena have been bleak, (...)
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  • Natural and unnatural justice in animal care.Stephen Walker - 1990 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13 (1):43-43.
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