Darwinian Natural Right, livre ebook

Shows how Darwinian biology supports an Aristotelian view of ethics as rooted in human nature.

Shows how Darwinian biology supports an Aristotelian view of ethics as rooted in human nature.

This book shows how 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.

Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

1. Aristotle, Darwin, and Natural Right

An Intellectual Journey

Ten Propositions

Seven Objections

An Overview of the Book

2. Desire and Reason

The Nature of Desire

The Normative Structure of Animal Movement

Twenty Natural Desires

Nurturing Nature

Four Sources of Moral Disagreement

Prudence

3. Political Animals

Ants, Bees, and Other Political Animals

The Hobbesian Critique

The Nature of Culture

4. The Human Nature of Morality and Freedom

Natural Morality

Natural Freedom

Conclusion

5. Parent and Child

Plato's Second Wave

Religious Communism in the Oneida Community

Secular Communism in the Kibbutz

Four Biological Causes

The Human Ecology of Parental Investment

Infanticide, Adoption, and Sexual Bonding

6. Man and Woman

Feminist Naturalism

The Biology of Sex Differences

Mating Desires

Male Dominance and Male Vulnerability

The Moral Complementarity of Male and Female Norms

Natural Genitals and Natural Feet

Feminist Culturalism

7. Master and Slave

Ant Slavery and Human Slavery

Aristotle

Hume

Jefferson

Darwin

Lincoln

Racial Science

Conclusion

8. The Poverty of Psychopathic Desire

The Mask of Sanity

The Flat Soul Behind the Mask

An Evolutionary Niche for Machiavellians

To Know But Not to Feel

Moral Strangers

9. The Ends and Kinds of Life

Natural Kinds

Natural Ends

10. Nature and Nature's God

McShea, Masters, and Wilson

Aristotle and Augustine

Hume and Darwin

Moses and Aquinas

The Desire to Understand

References

Index