From Biology to Consciousness to Morality

. Social animals are provisioned with prosocial orientations that operate to transcend self‐interest. Morality, as used here, describes human versions of such orientations. We explore the evolutionary antecedents of morality in the context of emergentism, giving considerable attention to the biologi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zygon 2003-12, Vol.38 (4), p.801-819
Main Authors: Goodenough, Ursula, Deacon, Terrence W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
biology
brains
consciousness
culture
emergence
Ethics
General points
History of science and technology
History of science in relation to other disciplinary fields
moral ideals
moral motivation
Morality
symbolic language
Theology
virtue
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Summary:. Social animals are provisioned with prosocial orientations that operate to transcend self‐interest. Morality, as used here, describes human versions of such orientations. We explore the evolutionary antecedents of morality in the context of emergentism, giving considerable attention to the biological traits that undergird awareness and our emergent human forms of mind. We suggest that our moral frames of mind emerge from our primate prosocial capacities, transfigured and valenced by our symbolic languages, cultures, and religions.
ISSN:0591-2385
1467-9744
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9744.2003.00540.x