This book is a discourse on how biology, and especially the new developments in biology affect ethics.



At first glance there is no connection at all. But in thinking of doing harm to a person, it is clearly ethically bad for a human to harm another. But if a mosquito gives a human malaria or yellow fever, if a shark kills a swimmer, neither the mosquito or the shark cannot be held at fault.



As Francisco Ayala says in chapter 8, 'humans are animals but a very distinct and unique kind of animal.' Some of these differences are almost mechanical, such as walking upright. But other aspects of distinction include social behaviors and the thinking process that has led to science, religion, art, and of course ethics.



This book is a series of ten original essays written by a team of philosophers and scientists. They are broken into categories that reflect the current thinking in the field:



The Limits of Evolutionary Explanations and Justifications of Ethics



Methodological Issues Concerning Evolutionary Accounts of Ethics



How Biological Results can Help Explain Morally Relevant Human Capacities



How Biological Results Can Help Explain Moral Systems