A Darwinian Left

Politics, Evolution and Cooperation

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3983402
AutoresArthur Schafer, Peter Singer (0000-0003-3741-4314)
Ano2001
Volume48
Páginas339
Data de publicação2001-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLabour / Le Travail (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0700-3862 • E-ISSN: 1911-4842
EditoraJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/25149199
OpenAlexW2613262607
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas35

In this ground-breaking book, a renowned bioethicist argues that the political left must radically revise its outdated view of human nature. He shows how the insights of modern evolutionary theory, particularly on the evolution of cooperation, can help the left attain its social and political goals.Singer explains why the left originally rejected Darwinian thought and why these reasons are no longer viable. He discusses how twentieth-century thinking has transformed our understanding of Darwinian evolution, showing that it is compatible with cooperation as well as competition, and that the left can draw on this modern understanding to foster cooperation for socially desirable ends. A Darwinian left, says Singer, would still be on the side of the weak, poor, and oppressed, but it would have a better understanding of what social and economic changes would really work to benefit them. It would also work toward a higher moral status for nonhuman animals and a less anthropocentric view of our dominance over nature

Anthropocentrism · Biology · Darwinism · Dominance (genetics · Economics · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social Darwinism · Social evolution · Sociology · Anthropology · Evolution and Science Education · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science