Hi,
James Veverka <headbands@webtv.net> writes:
<<
Back to morality, significance, symbioses and law: The legislated
codes of conduct are what are considered morally and socially
significant, thus relative, not absolute. The legislated codes are an
attempt to set a standard for moral symbioses that reflects vital
tribal cooperation within a competitive sphere. Naturally emerging
factors outside of compulsory morality are charity, altruism and
volunteerism. Those plus empathy and sympathy have a profound effect
on the dynamics of the cultural symbioses. Therein lies
cooperation-symbiosis based upon common values of significance. It
elevates a society beyond hard
darwinism.............. yadayadayada. jim aka .......flash!
>>
Just thought I'd pass along a book recommendation on this topic (the "codes of conduct" for a society that seem to go beyond hard darwinism).
Morris, Desmond. The Naked Ape: a zoologists study of the
human animal, 1967
My copy says it was a bestseller, so it should not be too hard to find. I thought the book was quite well written, although Morris seems to take evolutationary theory rather fast and loose (working from what we have now to what must have happened... which *is* backwards, from a hard darwinian viewpoint). It is a fascinating discussion of human nature -- and I think it is a book which should be read *before* Bloom's _The Lucifer Principle_ or Wilson's _On Human Nature_, as it is considerably more basic and observational, rather than theoretical and normative...
ERiC