[asa] amusing juxtapositions

The latest Atlantic Monthly (Oct. 2007) has the eye catching features
"The Selfless Gene" by Olivia Judson, and entertainingly, the same issue
features on its cover "How To Be a Moral Investor". I trust others
here can appreciate the irony.

The article at http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/current is for
subscribers only, but anybody can access the author interview about the
article at that same link. It may be of interest -- she discusses the
work of William Hamilton and Sam Bowles and the recent warming towards
evolutionary altruism. The main thrust seems to be this: kindness may
have an evolutionary payoff after all, IF it is towards one's biological
kin. Well, this seems pretty obvious, and in fact, for that reason
probably doesn't even qualify as real altruism at all at the
philosophical levels discussed on the ASA list. But she does go on to
state how excited biologists get about the apparent acts of kindness
towards genetically distant others. (Perhaps they could do
groundbreaking research on the moral investment article just a few
pages away.)

It seems that what Christianity asks of its adherents must still be
beyond the pale of mainstream evolutionary thought unless one starts
waxing warm and fuzzy about how we are all part of a global
"community". But what really hit me was that Christianity or religions
in general rank not a mention in the article which, in its conclusion,
leads into speculation about how we might ... "in principle, organize
society so as to bring out the best facets of our complex, evolved
natures." The silence is deafening. I mean, it's not that I insist
such questions be restricted to only the domain of organized religion.
But to barge into this with science and pretend no religious component
even exists ... isn't this the cold shoulder of warfare mode
thought? Or is this just over-reaction to a writer simply following
scientists in their scientific lines of inquiry?

--Merv

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Received on Sun Sep 16 19:14:16 2007