The Science Of Good And Evil: Why "People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule - Books: a selection of new and notable books of scientific interest - Book Review

Science News, March 6, 2004 by Michael Shermer

MICHAEL SHERMER

This is the third title in what has turned out to be a trilogy of books on the nature of belief--the first two are How We Believe and Why People Believe Weird Things. In this installment, Shermer considers whether it's in our nature to be moral and, if so, where this inclination comes from, He argues that morality and ethics have eve(red over time and that religion is merely a social institution formed to "enforce the rules of human-interactions before there were such institutions as the state or such concepts of laws and rights." Drawing on elements of evolutionary psychology, he shows that moral behavior first emerged in individuals: hominids that sought, for instance, to protect their young. As these individuals began to band together, a need for rules of living and dealing with others became essential, Out of this need eventually grew sets of ethical principles. Shermer considers how such ethical systems have developed throughout human history and argues that the complexity of human society and culture makes it impossible for a single system to be all-compassing. He points out that these systems don't need to operate within the confines of a religion--that "forgiveness and redemption" aren't necessarily in the eye of a deity. The author concludes that we should be more cooperative than we are. Times, 2004, 350#., b&w photos/illus., hardcover, $26.00.