Sociobiology and Human Morality

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Sociobiology and Human Morality
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Sociobiology

• The study of the evolutionary origins of social
  behavior
• Suggests that human morality developed from
  behavior in our early ancestors that contributed
  to survival of their genes
• Behavioral genetics studies the role of genes in
  determining human behavior

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Reductive Materialism

• You are just a machine
• Everything is determined by the activities of
  physical systems (starting with atoms and working
  up to the levels of genes, cells and organisms
  their emotions)
• Dawkins The selfish gene is the driving force
  behind the evolution of human emotions and
  behavior

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Can Sociobiology Fully Explain Moral Behavior?

• If evolution is just about survival of genes or
  organisms to the point that they can reproduce,
  wouldnt selfishness be the ultimate norm of all
  human behavior?
• E.O. Wilsons concept of kin selection suggests
  why limited amounts of biological cooperation
  might have evolved

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Altruism

• Definition Disinterested benevolence and
  unselfish concern for the welfare of others, with
  no other end in mind
• Dawkins We now have four good Darwinian reasons
  for individuals to be altruistic, generous or
  moral towards each other (1) kinship (2)
  reciprocation/symbiosis (3) benefits of
  reputation of generosity (4) Mating displays of
  superiority

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An Objection to Sociobiology

• Holmes Ralston Cultural evolution (which is
  driven conscious choice and reason) has taken
  over from evolution driven by natural selection
• Just like evolution has created in us the
  capacity for language acquisition, but not any
  specific language

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The Is/Ought Distinction

• Is/ought gap the view originated by David Hume,
  that evaluative conclusions cannot be validly
  derived from purely factual premises
• Naturalistic Fallacy a claim, originated by
  Moore, that evaluative concepts cannot be fully
  analyzed only in factual terms

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Moral Objectivism

• The belief (held by all major religions) that
  moral values can be objectively true independent
  of individual, subjective feelings or societal
  norms
• Michael Ruse argues that if we are to take values
  seriously we have to believe that they are
  objective (even if they are not) and this fact
  explains the origins of beliefs about moral
  obligation

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Ruses Projection Theory of Morality

• Ruse (Drawing on Freuds argument that God is
  simply a projection of human imagination based in
  psychological needs) argues that moral standards
  are not real, but rather are simply subjective
  projections of our psychological need for
  objective standards

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The Logical Flaw in Freuds Argument

• Even if it were true that all religious beliefs
  were psychological illusions, this would not
  show that God does not exist
• The question of Gods existence is a logically
  separate issue from the question of how people
  come to their beliefs about Gods existence
• Example of the Genetic Fallacy

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Mind/Body Dualism

• Descartes I think therefore I am (mind is
  completely separate from body)
• Many Christians have believed such mind-body
  dualism (perhaps also influenced by the Gnostics)
• Many contemporary theologians and biblical
  scholars reject mind-body dualism
• Nephesh and psyche of Bible refer to breath of
  life or life
• Doctrine of resurrection in Judaism in
  Christianity speaks to a holistic view and
  against radical dualism

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The Turing Test

• How do you know if a computer is intelligent?
• Alan Turing suggests that if you can have a
  conversation with a computer, and not know its a
  computer (assume you are communicating by e-mail
  or instant messaging) then it is reasonable to
  assume the computer is intelligent like we are
  intelligent

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John Searle Chinese Room Thought Experiment

• Imagine a man in a room who has an instruction
  manual for translating English phrases to Chinese
  phrases passed to him under the doorDoes he
  understand Chinese?