Natural Ethical Facts (MIT Press): Evolution, Connectionism, and Moral Cognition

Author: William D CasebeerPaperback:Publisher: MIT PressISBN 10: 0262532786ISBN 13: 978-0262532785Hardcover:Publisher: A Bradford BookISBN 10: 0262033100ISBN 13: 978-0262033107In Natural Ethical Facts William Casebeer argues that we can articulate a fully naturalized ethical theory using concepts from evolutionary biology and cognitive science, and that we can study moral cognition just as we study other forms of cognition. His goal is to show that we have "softly fixed" human natures, that these natures are evolved, and that our lives go well or badly depending on how we satisfy the functional demands of these natures. Natural Ethical Facts is a comprehensive examination of what a plausible moral science would look like. Casebeer begins by discussing the nature of ethics and the possible relationship between science and ethics. He then addresses David Hume's naturalistic fallacy and G. E. Moore's open-question argument, drawing on the work of John Dewey and W. V. O. Quine. He then pro