From bestselling author Michael Shermer, an investigation of the evolution of morality that is "a paragon of popularized science and philosophy" The Sun (Baltimore) A century and a half after Darwin first proposed an "evolutionary ethics," science has begun to tackle the roots of morality. Just as evolutionary biologists study why we are hungry (to motivate us to eat) or why sex is enjoyable (to motivate us to procreate), they are now searching for the very nature of humanity. In The Science of Good and Evil, science historian Michael Shermer explores how humans evolved from social primates to moral primates; how and why morality motivates the human animal; and how the foundation of moral principles can be built upon empirical evidence. Along the way he explains the implications of scientific findings for fate and free will, the existence of pure good and pure evil, and the development of early moral sentiments among the first humans. As he closes the divide between science and morality, Shermer draws on stories from the Yanamamö, infamously known as the "fierce people" of the tropical rain forest, to the Stanford studies on jailers' behavior in prisons. The Science of Good and Evil is ultimately a profound look at the moral animal, belief, and the scientific pursuit of truth.
Now, to explore and navigate this essential question of human behavior, the editors at TIME bring you the special edition 'The Science of Good and Evil.
Edmonds, B. and D. Hales (2005). Computational simulation as theoretical experiment. Journal of Mathematical Sociology 29, 209–232. Eidelson, B. M. and I. Lustick (2004). Vir-pox: An agent-based analysis of smallpox preparedness and ...
In Just Babies, Paul Bloom argues that humans are in fact hardwired with a sense of morality.
Is Nature Ever Evil?, considers the different ways in which reality is understood between the disciplines of ethics, religion and science focusing on the ethical evaluation of nature itself.
Decades after a famous theologian has a profound near-death experience, former priest Ian Baringer searches for the theologian's missing journal at the side of agnostic psychologist Angela Weber, with whom he confronts a shadowy cult.
Can we come to know what is good and evil, right and wrong in our age of science? In The Socratic Turn, Dustin Sebell looks to Socrates, the founder of political philosophy, for guidance.
How has he done it? By arguing a simple, almost heretical proposition: economics is ultimately about good and evil. In The Economics of Good and Evil, Sedlacek radically rethinks his field, challenging our assumptions about the world.
In later 1980, Roy'd been invited by the Atlanta police department to consult on the city's investigation into a case beginning to make national headlines, the murders of a string of young black children in some of the city's poorest ...
This is a wide-ranging exploration into a fascinating, darkly compelling subject.
What does it mean to be human in a world filled with tragedy? With creativity and insight Edward Farley, one of today's most respected theologians, here addresses this universal and haunting question of evil.