The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule

The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule
by Michael Shermer

The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule
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Book Summary Information

Author: Michael Shermer
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-01-02
ISBN: 0805077693
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Book Reviews of The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule

Book Review: Good Complement to The God Delusion
Summary: 5 Stars

Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion makes the argument that ethics and morals do not depend upon a God or religion. Dawkins, however, does not address the gap that people might need religion upon which to base their morals and ethics. Shermer explores non-religious bases for morality and ethics in his book.

Shermer makes the point that humans have evolved with a working set of morals. Organized religions have often codified and formalized these morals. For example, the "Golden Rule" can be found in almost every major religion. This point helps to make it clear that even though I learned my morals in a Catholic environment, I don't need Catholicism to be moral.

Shermer proposes a concept called "provisional ethics in which moral or immoral means confirmed to such extent it would be reasonable to offer provisional assent". There are some rough spots in the justification for provisional ethics. However, I think Shermer is on the right track. Provisional ethics are much more reasonable than either absolute ethics or relative ethics.

Summary of The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule

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 Yanamam?, 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.

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