Can theories of evolution explain the development of our capacity for moral judgment and the content of morality itself? If bad behavior punished by the criminal law is attributable to physical causes, rather than being intentional or voluntary as traditionally assumed, what are the implications for rethinking the criminal justice system? Is evolutionary theory and “nature talk,” at least as practiced to date, inherently conservative and resistant to progressive and feminist proposals for social changes to counter subordination and secure equality?

 

In Evolution and Morality, a group of contributors from philosophy, law, political science, history, and genetics address many of the philosophical, legal, and political issues raised by such questions. This insightful interdisciplinary volume examines the possibilities of a naturalistic ethics, the implications of behavioral morality for reform of the criminal law, the prospects for a biopolitical science, and the relationship between nature, culture, and social engineering.

James E. Fleming is Professor of Law and The Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Law at Boston University School of Law. He is the author or co-author of several books, including Securing Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Autonomy and, with Linda C. McClain, Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues.