Darwinian Natural Right: The
Biological Ethics of Human Nature
(Suny Series in Philosophy and
Biology) by Larry Arnhart
A New Look At Morality And Ethics
This book shows how Darwinian biology supports an Aristotelian view of
ethics as rooted in human nature. Defending a conception of Darwinian
natural right based on the claim that the good is the desirable, the author
argues that there are at least twenty natural desires that are universal to all
human societies because they are based in human biology. The
satisfaction of these natural desires constitutes a universal standard for
judging social practice as either fulfilling or frustrating human nature,
although prudence is required in judging what is best for particular
circumstances. The author studies the familial bonding of parents and
children and the conjugal bonding of men and women as illustrating social
behavior that conforms to Darwinian natural right. He also studies slavery
and psychopathy as illustrating social behavior that contradicts Darwinian

natural right. He argues as well that the natural moral sense does not
require religious belief, although such belief can sometimes reinforce the
dictates of nature.
Personal Review: Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological
Ethics of Human Nature (Suny Series in Philosophy and Biology)
by Larry Arnhart
This book looks at morality or ethics and tries to tie together an Aristotelian
with what we now know is a moral system that was part of our primate
past. Part evolutionary psychology and part philosophy, it is well written,
cogent and easy to read. Its message is simply that humans are social
and political animals that have innate desires, but need not act on them.
Humans can choose to act contrary to their evolutionary past in ethical
terms. But also, political systems must not IGNORE our human nature
either, or they will fail. From page 259 of the book: To justify his laws,
Moses repeatedly insisted that if the Jews obeyed, his laws, they and their
children would survive and prosper in their new land. He made no claims
about immortality of the soul or about rewards and punishments in an
afterlife. Instead, like Darwin, he argued that the purpose of morality was
to secure the earthly survival and prosperity of oneself and one's progeny.
The first commandment of God in the Bible is "Be fruitful and multiply"
(Gen. 1:28). For Moses, promoting the survival and reproduction of the
Jews required social norms that led individuals to cooperate within their
group to compete with other groups (Deut. 4:40, 6:1-3, 11:8-9, 20,
23:9-14,25:11-16, 30:15-20). Moses taught that "whoever obeys the law
will find life in it" (Lev. 18:5). Saint Paul cited this as the fundamental aim
of the Mosaic Law (Rom. 10:5). It should not be surprising, therefore, that
Darwinian theorists can explain the Mosaic law as promoting the
reproductive interests of the Jews (Hartung 1995; MacDonald 1994,
35-55). As a product of natural human experience, not only Judaism but
all religious beliefs and practices serve the natural desires of human
beings in diverse social and physical environments, and consequently we
would explain religion as an adaptation of human ecology (Burkert 1996;
Reynolds and Tanner 1995).So even one of the first moral successful
systems, the Mosaic Law, recognized the purpose of morality in an
evolutionary form, survival of the group. This book tries to go beyond
group interests and argues (not always persuasively in my opinion) that a
Darwinian morality can subsume the current value system that we all want
to see.The book covers the essence of an evolutionary morality. That is,
humans evolved with social ranking, justice as reciprocity, political rule,
war when group interests collide, religion to explain the fear of the
unknown and eventual death, etc. Morality then became part of the
pleasure of serving the tribe or belonging. Kin selection, inclusive fitness,
reciprocal altruism, indirect reciprocity; these evolutionary processes
required that humans have fear and guilt if they act against the tribe's
rules. Morality included honor, fearlessness, willingness to die for the
group -- that is what the communal sense was all about. Adherence to the
tribes moral codes meant the group could fight of predators and other
human groups when necessary. Those tribes that could not unify against

a common enemy -- what we now call patriotism -- more than likely died
out in favor of the more fearless tribes.And how does this morality come
about? Well contrary to what folk psychology tells us, from Dr. Laura to
President Clinton, both conservatives and liberals, infants are born with a
moral nature and seek the rules naturally. That is, even when playing with
other children, a child will develop proper behavior by observing others
and learning what works and what doesn't, similar to chimpanzees. So
the moral do not have to be taught so much as just observed by children.
We are naturally moral animals, but the morals change over time and are
different for different cultures. However this book argues that we can now
change those moral rules that should be abandoned: slavery,
clitoridectomy, circumcision, cannibalism, genocide, etc. Perhaps.
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