Abstract
Trying to understand morality has been a central human preoccupation for as far back as human history extends, and for very good reasons. The core phenomenon is readily observable: we humans judge each other’s behaviour as right or wrong, and each other’s selves as moral or immoral. If others view you as moral, you will thrive in the bosom of a human group. If, however, others view you as immoral, you are in deep trouble; you may even die young, either at the hands of others, or alone in the bush. These are very good reasons indeed for close attention to morality.
This chapter introduces Chapter 10, which is reprinted from: Nesse, R. M. (2007). Runaway social selection for displays of partner value and altruism, Biological Theory, 2(2), 143–155.
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Preparation of this manuscript was made possible by a Fellowship from the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study.
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Nesse, R.M. (2009). How Can Evolution and Neuroscience Help Us Understand Moral Capacities?. In: Verplaetse, J., Schrijver, J., Vanneste, S., Braeckman, J. (eds) The Moral Brain. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6287-2_9
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