Problems of Evolutionary Ethics
Evolutionary ethics is a type of ethical theory according to which morality is
rooted in human nature. Based on natural science concepts, evolutionary ethics
explains the origin of character as developing a necessary mechanism that arises
in evolution. On this basis, the normative principle of morality is formulated: what
contributes to life in its most complete expressions is morally positive.
McQuilkin and Copan raise several important issues about evolutionary ethics in
Chapter 11. Based on this theory, it can be concluded that if one or another
aspect of human behavior follows from evolutionary patterns, this behavior has
thus received an evolutionary justification[1]. However, not all parts of emotions
and morals have an evolutionary explanation, for example, feelings of hostility
towards people from other cultures, that are positive and correct[2]. In addition,
the disadvantage of the evolutionary theory is that moral and ethical norms
cannot be determined only to a biological degree[3]. This is because cultural and
social evolution is immeasurably important in shaping these phenomena. h
McQuilkin and Copan do not overstate the case when noting these problems. Not
all the emotional and behavioral stereotypes that contributed to the Stone Age
hunter genes spread are optimal for a modern civilized person[4]. In particular,
according to the theory of evolutionary ethics, man has an innate tendency to
divide people into relatives and strangers, and to feel disgust and dislike for the
second group[5]. This is not the model of morality that should be imitated today. h
In my opinion, evolutionary ethics is not compatible with the belief in God as the
basis of ethics. Evolutionary ethics justifies the egoistic motivation of man, the
cult of individualism, progressive alienation, cruelty, and aggressiveness in
conditions where it is necessary for survival. For a Christian, the manifestations of
cruelty cannot be justified because one of the central commandments of
Christianity is to respond to evil not with violence, but with good. h h
1. Robertson McQuilkin, “The Duty Ethic, Evolutionary Ethics, and God as
the Foundation for Morality,” in
An Introduction to Biblical Ethics:
Walking in the Way of Wisdom
, ed. Paul Copan (Illinois: IVP Academic,
2014), 180.
2. John Lemos, " On the Compatibility of Evolutionary Biology and Theism,"
European Journal for Philosophy of Religion
12, no. 3 (2020): 20.
3. Michael Klenk, “Objectivist Conditions for Defeat and Evolutionary
Debunking Arguments,”
Ratio
32, no. 4 (2019): 254.
4. Ibid., 181.
5. Andrew Thomas-Clapp and Daniel Brannan, “Evolutionary Ethics and
Christian Stewardship,”
European Journal of Science and Theology
14,
no. 2 (2018): 27.
