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Zusatztext readers interested in contractualist normative theory might benefit from his exposition of the theory in the light of evolutionary theory. Baumard writes without using many technicalities and so the book should be accessible for the non-specialist reader, too. Informationen zum Autor Nicolas Baumard is Research Scholar in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. Klappentext In order to describe the logic of morality, "contractualist" philosophers have studied how individuals behave when they choose to follow their moral intuitions. These individuals, contractualists note, often act as if they have bargained and thus reached an agreement with others about how to distribute the benefits and burdens of mutual cooperation. Using this observation, such philosophers argue that the purpose of morality is to maximize the benefits of human interaction. The resulting "contract" analogy is both insightful and puzzling. On one hand, it captures the pattern of moral intuitions, thus answering questions about human cooperation: why do humans cooperate? Why should the distribution of benefits be proportionate to each person's contribution? Why should the punishment be proportionate to the crime? Why should the rights be proportionate to the duties? On the other hand, the analogy provides a mere as-if explanation for human cooperation, saying that cooperation is "as if" people have passed a contract-but since they didn't, why should it be so? To evolutionary thinkers, the puzzle of the missing contract is immediately reminiscent of the puzzle of the missing "designer" of life-forms, a puzzle that Darwin's theory of natural selection essentially resolved. Evolutionary and contractualist theory originally intersected at the work of philosophers John Rawls and David Gauthier, who argued that moral judgments are based on a sense of fairness that has been naturally selected. In this book, Nicolas Baumard further explores the theory that morality was originally an adaptation to the biological market of cooperation, an arena in which individuals competed to be selected for cooperative interactions. In this environment, Baumard suggests, the best strategy was to treat others with impartiality and to share the costs and benefits of cooperation in a fair way, so that those who offered less than others were left out of cooperation while those who offered more were exploited by their partners. It is with this evolutionary approach that Baumard ultimately accounts for the specific structure of human morality. Zusammenfassung In this book, Nicolas Baumard explores the theory that morality was originally an adaptation to the biological market of cooperation, an arena in which individuals competed to be selected for cooperative interactions. It is with this evolutionary approach that Baumard accounts for the specific structure of human morality. Inhaltsverzeichnis INTRODUCTION: Reconciling morality with the natural sciences Naturalism: The moral sense Contractualism: The social contract A naturalistic and contractualist theory of morality PART 1: THE MORAL SENSE Chapter 1: A mental organ 1. An autonomous disposition Moral judgments and moral intuitions Moral intuitions and moral ideas 2. A domain-specific disposition Morality, a passion among others The sense of honor 3. A universal disposition Variability as a product of the diversity of situations and beliefs Observed diversity and real diversity 4. An innate disposition 5. Non-intuitive moral judgments Chapter 2: A functional disposition 1. The competing passions 2. The moral sense and non-naturalistic theories The domain specificity of moral judgments The innateness of moral judgments 3. The moral sense as adaptation Functionality and modularity Efficient causes and final causes PART 2: MORALITY A...
