From Biology to Consciousness to Morality

Abstract. 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...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Goodenough, Ursula (Author) ; Terrence W. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2003
In: Zygon
Year: 2003, Volume: 38, Issue: 4, Pages: 801-819
Further subjects:B moral ideals
B brains
B Morality
B Consciousness
B Emergence
B Virtue
B Symbolic language
B Biology
B Moral Motivation
B Culture
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:Abstract. 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:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2003.00540.x