tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632126352829336664.post6210572672251644215..comments2013-04-19T10:04:05.819-07:00Comments on Bruce R. Cordell: Morality GuideBruce Cordellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15909721180218892687noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632126352829336664.post-79755421569211592812012-10-24T09:08:58.599-07:002012-10-24T09:08:58.599-07:00Thanks Ken. I'd heard about various findings i...Thanks Ken. I'd heard about various findings in the last few years in primate studies, but had NOT heard about Hamilton's Rule, very interesting!<br /><br />And also glad to hear that others have had similar thoughts regarding morality. In a way, my argument is more about semantics and definitions, I suppose :-)Bruce Cordellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15909721180218892687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-632126352829336664.post-86452106275468080802012-10-24T07:33:24.560-07:002012-10-24T07:33:24.560-07:00Interesting ideas and I might need to snag that ch...Interesting ideas and I might need to snag that chart to use in the ethics classes I teach!<br /><br />A couple side points - for starters, the first 2 categories are actually formalized in evolutionary psychology as Hamilton's Rule. rB > C where r is the degree of relatedness (parents, siblings and offspring are 50% related, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews are 25% related, etc.), B is the benefit to your kin, and C is the cost to you. So if helping your sibling doubles what it costs you, then it is worth it, but the benefit needs to quadruple for nieces and nephews, and so on.. But Tom does capture the whole progression beyond kin selection quite amusingly.<br /><br />Also, in ethics there is the notion of "expanding the circle" that your reaction also captures it even more nuanced than it is traditionally explained. Basically, moral progress (as individual or society) is a steady expanding the circle of our moral concern - who matters when we make ethical decisions. Over time, we take more and more groups of things as having interests that we might harm and need to be factored into our decisions.<br />Ken Marablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11657351442353880984noreply@blogger.com