Reactions to papers on evolution~morality

This is an organiser page for reading the following papers and chapters and ideas regarded morality in relation to evolution. It's a gap I am trying to fill. As reactions I won't dig to scholarly into to the intertextual background of the papers, and just say where I differ and why. When I get bored or repetitive I stop the reaction and say how far I got into the paper.

My basic position is that 'morality' is an outcome and trying to find direct selection for it is maybe possible but there ain't nothing to find as yet. It;s a goose chase, despite all the reasonable arguments.

The ones in bold will have reaction piece.

Berkman, John R. “The Evolution of Moral Wisdom: What Some Ethicists Might Learn from Some Evolutionary Anthropologists.” Evolution of Wisdom: Major and Minor Keys. Notre Dame, Indiana: Center for Theology, Science, and Human Flourishing, 2018. 183–199.via academia.edu. Web. 2 Sept. 2024.

 REACTION Broom, Donald Maurice. “The Evolution of Morality.” Applied Animal Behaviour Science 100.1–2 (2006): 20. Print. via academia.edu web.

REACTION and also a FOLLOW-UP on the expanding circle for: Caso, Juan Manuel Rodríguez, and Ricardo Noguera Solano. “Biological and Cultural Evolution of Morality: The Delusion of Progress.” Revista de Filosofía Fundamental (2022): via academia.edu Web. 21 Aug. 2024.

Collier, John. “Evolutionary Naturalism and the Objectivity of Morality.” via academia.edu. Web. 2 Sept. 2024.


John Collier and Michael Stingl. “Evolutionary Moral Realism.” Biological Theory (forthcoming 2013) via academia.edu Web. 3 Sept. 2024.


Copp, David. “Reflections on the Evolutionary Basis of Morality.” Metascience (2017): via academia.edu Web. 1 Aug. 2024.

Curry, Oliver Scott. Morality as Natural History: An Adaptationist Account of Ethics. PhD, London School of Economics, London. N.p., 2004. via academia.edu. Web. 28 Aug. 2024.


Dean, Timothy. “Evolution and Moral Ecology.” via academia.edu. Web. 15 Aug. 2024.

Fraser, Ben. “Adaptation, Exaptation, By-Products and Spandrels in Evolutionary Explanations of Morality.” Biological Theory, 5(3): 223-227 (2010): via academia.edu. Web. 2 Sept. 2024.


Garvey, Brian. “The Evolution of Morality and Its Rollback.” History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 40.2 (2018): via academia.edu. Web. 31 Aug. 2024.

REACTION Geiger, Gebhard. “Evolutionary Anthropology and the Non-Cognitive Foundation of Moral Validity.” Biology and Philosophy Vol. 8, no. 2. 1993 doi.org

Haworth, Alan. “Genes and Citizens: Can Moral Philosophy Learn From Evolutionary Biology?” Res Publica (2001):  via academia.edu. Web. 10 Sept. 2024.


Joyce, Richard. “Evolution and Moral Naturalism.”  Penultimate draft of paper appearing in K. J. Clark (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to Naturalism (forthcoming). via academia.edu. Web. 4 Sept. 2024.


Kamal, Raj. “Evolutionary Anthropology and the Non-Cognitive Foundation of Moral Validity.” Biology & Philosophy (1993): via academia.edu. Web. 18 Aug. 2024.

Levy, Neil. "The Prospects for Evolutionary Ethics Today" Euramerica 40, no. 3 (September 2010): 529-71. via academia.edu (web)

Peters, Karl E. “Reflections on the Evolution of Morality.” Zygon® 34.3 (1999): 419. Print. (web)

Reshetnyk, Olga A. “Phylogenetic History of Morality.” Матеріали міжнародної науково-практичної конференції "Україна і світ: Діалог мов та культур" (2015): via academia.edu. Web. 28 Aug. 2024.

Rosas, Alejandro. “Beyond the Sociobiological Dilemma: Social Emotions and the Evolution of Morality.”  academia.edu. Web. 12 Aug. 2024.

Rottschaefer, William. “Evolutionary Naturalistic Justifications of Morality: A Matter of Faith and Works.” Biology and Philosophy (1991):  via academia.edu (web) 23 Aug. 2024.

Sakin, Derya. “On the Evolutionary Origin of Morality.” Beytülhikme An International Journal of Philosophy (2022): via academia.edu. Web. 2 Aug. 2024.

Scheule, Rupert. “‘Evolutionary Ethics 2.0’? New Findings about the Nature of Morality.” via academia.edu. Web. 9 Aug. 2024.

Serber, Ben. “An Evolutionary Vindication of Moral Facts.” via academia.edu Web. 17 Aug. 2024.


Serrelli, Emanuele. “Traits and Functions in the Evolution of Morality.” via academia.edu Web. 14 Aug. 2024.

Severini, Eleonora. “Moral Explanation and Evolutionary Explanation of Morality.” Syzetesis (2022): via academia.edu Web. 14 Aug. 2024.

Stewart-Williams, Steve. “Evolution and Morality.” International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.). (2015): n. pag. www.academia.edu. Web. 7 Aug. 2024.

Theology, Journal of Moral. “Evolutionary Perspectives on Inter-Morality and Inter-Species Relationships Interrogated in the Light of the Rise and Fall of Homo Sapiens Sapiens.” Journal of Moral Theology (2014):via academia.edu Web. 6 Aug. 2024.

Topçuoğlu, Erdi. “An Investigation of How Human Morality Evolved.” (2015): via academia.edu Web. 5 Aug. 2024.

Vladyková, Ľubov. “Evolution, Moral Network Theory and Contestation of the Rule-Based Model of Moral Reasoning.” The holistic approach to environment (2012):  via academia.edu. Web. 2 Sept. 2024.


REACTION Vlerick, Michael. “Better Than Our Nature? Evolution and Moral Realism, Justification and Progress.”  in  Ruse, Michael, and Robert J. Richards, eds. The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Ethics. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Print. Cambridge Handbooks in Philosophy. [Chapter via academia.edu]