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Craig Boyd
Veneer Theory, Primatology, and the Evolution of Altruism


Abstract

The evolution of emotions in all primates enables them to initiate and respond to pro-social behavior. Moreover, this pro-social behavior extends beyond the mere “survival instinct” that many neo-Darwinians such as Richard Dawkins advocate. Morality is no mere illusion. As de Waal says, “We are not hypocritically fooling everyone when we act morally: we are making decisions that flow from social instincts older than our species, even though we add to these instincts the uniquely human complexity of a disinterested concern for others and for society as a whole.”1 Human love, therefore, builds upon social instincts and desires that are not of themselves “evil,” but are necessary conditions for human flourishing. Human love incorporates the sexual and the social cooperation of non-human primates but extends beyond them to affirm the goodness of others including other humans that we are not related to, other species, and even God.

1 Ibis., 55.

Biography

Craig A. Boyd received his Ph.D. in philosophy from St. Louis University in 1996 and is professor of philosophy and executive director of faith integration at Azusa Pacific University. He is the author of A Shared Morality: A Narrative Defense of Natural Law Ethics (Brazos, 2007) and editor of Visions of Agapé: Problems and Possibilities in Human and Divine Love (Ashgate, 2008). He has published articles a variety of scholarly journals including New Blackfriars, The American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, Perspectives in Science and Christian Faith, Studies in Science and Theology, The Journal of Psychology and Christianity,and The Modern Schoolman. His research interests lie in natural law morality, the ethics of love, divine command theory, and sociobiology. Boyd has also been a visiting scholar at Oxford University and St. Louis University.



 

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