The Moral Animal: Why We Are The Way We Are - Hardcover

Wright, Robert

4.08

11,432 ratings by Goodreads

9780316875011: The Moral Animal: Why We Are The Way We Are

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316875015 ISBN 13: 9780316875011

Publisher: Little, Brown, 1995

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Robert Wright examines a new science that has emerged from the work of evolutionary biologists and the social sciences. Taking the life and work of the evolutionist Charles Darwin as his context, Wright demonstrates how Darwin's ideas are still relevant today. He retells - from the perspective of evolutionary psychology - the stories of Darwin's marriage, family life and career. From this paradigm Wright draws conclusions about the structure of people's most basic preoccupations - sex, ambition, politics, justice - throwing light on the background of these fundamental instincts, showing why they are so important, and explaining how their importance often gives rise to conflicts. This book poses questions about not only the biological bases for morality, but also the biological bases for amorality.

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Review:

THE MORAL ANIMAL overturns old ways of thinking. (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY)

This is not a book of breathless reportage from some frontier of science; it is an eye-opening, thought-provoking, spine-tingling, mind-boggling, wish-I-had-thought-of-that sort of science book. (TLS)

A damn good book. (THE TIMES)

Anyone who finds the human race a bit of a puzzle will find much stimulation in this book. (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

Book Description:

* A lucid and provocative study of the ground-breaking new science of evolutionary psychology.

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