Moral Origins: The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame

The evolutionary origins of morals in humans has been a concern of scientists since Darwin. As Boehm, director of the Jane Goodall Research Center and professor of anthropology and biology at the University of Southern California, points out in his engrossing work, the issue is far from settled. Boehm does a remarkable job of extending previous work and incorporating a historical approach. He deftly combines studies of earlier hominids with ethological work on primates and ethnographic analyses of contemporary human hunter-gatherer groups to offer a new explanation for moral behavior. Boehm argues that social selection, or “intense social control” in prehistoric humans worked so well because “intense social control” meant “that individuals who were better at inhibiting their own antisocial tendencies, either through fear of punishment or through absorbing and identifying with their group’s rules, gained superior fitness.” His thesis, clearly articulated and well supported by available data, encompasses the egalitarian nature of most hunter-gatherer groups, their need to share large but rarely killed prey, and the human penchant for gossiping about the reputation of others. Social control explains how both dominance and free-loading behavior will be less favored than altruism. Boehm himself notes that this may not be the last word, but his ideas are provocative, thoughtful, and worth considering. Agent: Deirdre Mullane, Mullane Literary Associates. (May)