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The Expanding Circle : Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress / Peter Singer.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2011]Copyright date: ©2011Description: 1 online resource (232 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691150697
  • 9781400838431
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 170.42 22
LOC classification:
  • BJ51 .S57 2011eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface to the 2011 Edition -- Preface -- 1. The Origins of Altruism -- 2. The Biological Basis of Ethics -- 3. From Evolution to Ethics? -- 4. Reason -- 5. Reason and Genes -- 6. A New Understanding of Ethics -- Notes on Sources -- Afterword to the 2011 Edition -- Index
Summary: What is ethics? Where do moral standards come from? Are they based on emotions, reason, or some innate sense of right and wrong? For many scientists, the key lies entirely in biology--especially in Darwinian theories of evolution and self-preservation. But if evolution is a struggle for survival, why are we still capable of altruism? In his classic study The Expanding Circle, Peter Singer argues that altruism began as a genetically based drive to protect one's kin and community members but has developed into a consciously chosen ethic with an expanding circle of moral concern. Drawing on philosophy and evolutionary psychology, he demonstrates that human ethics cannot be explained by biology alone. Rather, it is our capacity for reasoning that makes moral progress possible. In a new afterword, Singer takes stock of his argument in light of recent research on the evolution of morality.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781400838431

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface to the 2011 Edition -- Preface -- 1. The Origins of Altruism -- 2. The Biological Basis of Ethics -- 3. From Evolution to Ethics? -- 4. Reason -- 5. Reason and Genes -- 6. A New Understanding of Ethics -- Notes on Sources -- Afterword to the 2011 Edition -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

What is ethics? Where do moral standards come from? Are they based on emotions, reason, or some innate sense of right and wrong? For many scientists, the key lies entirely in biology--especially in Darwinian theories of evolution and self-preservation. But if evolution is a struggle for survival, why are we still capable of altruism? In his classic study The Expanding Circle, Peter Singer argues that altruism began as a genetically based drive to protect one's kin and community members but has developed into a consciously chosen ethic with an expanding circle of moral concern. Drawing on philosophy and evolutionary psychology, he demonstrates that human ethics cannot be explained by biology alone. Rather, it is our capacity for reasoning that makes moral progress possible. In a new afterword, Singer takes stock of his argument in light of recent research on the evolution of morality.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jul 2021)