TWO KINDS OF QUESTION

Human beings are a product of evolution. This means that the existence of our species is explained by the process of descent with modification. But, in addition, it also means that various phenotypic characteristics of our species – features of morphology, physiology, and behavior – have evolutionary explanations.

Some see in this simple idea the promise of a new understanding of the problems of ethics. Others grant its truth, but reject its relevance. The first group insists that if evolutionary biology can provide insights into the workings of the human mind, these insights cannot fail to transform our understanding of right and wrong. But for the doubters, the fact that human beings have an evolutionary past has no more significance than the fact that the human body must obey the laws of physics. It is true that our bodies are subject to the law of gravity, but apparently that is of little help in understanding why we think and act as we do.

To assess the relevance of evolutionary ideas to the problems of ethics, we must distinguish two quite different projects. The first is the task of accounting for why people have the ethical thoughts and feelings they do.