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Evolution and Ethics
Last modified: June 9, 1998
Bruno CAUDANA
books here
Current advances in several related scientific fields (Biology, Neuroscience, Biologically Inspired Computation Models, the study of Complex Systems, etc.), show how humans, like any other biological organisms, are clusters of very complex long evolved machines, subject to natural selection.
Even those aspects, like the thinking activity, for very long time considered domain of the so called "spirituality", are going to be explained in terms of their material (electro-chemical and computational) nature. [see: F. Crick, M.A. Arbib, Sejnowski-Churchland]
In light of the scientific evidence that these investigations propose, some fundamental questions need new approach and reinvestigation. What gets out of this crude analysis may be not consolatory at all, if we assign a consolatory role to philosophical investigations.
Among others, here are some questions needing new, deep, reinvestigation:
Can Ethical Reasonings have any foundation beyond desires and passions?
or
In a limited resource perspective, where struggle for life is an everyday matter, how can we speak of general values for humanity in a way that is not just rhetoric, illusory and consolatory?
or
How deeply can we speak of notions like Common Good, Rights, etc., in a non subjective yet consistent way?
or
How can we switch from subjective utility functions to objective utility functions?
or
Assuming Darwinian Evolution as a fact, can we still establish non local, non historical hierarchies of values?
or
Can we even speak of context free values at all?
[ this page evolves: check regularly ]
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INDEX
Take a look at The Biological Basis of Morality by Edward O. Wilson and at his last book Consilience.
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DISCUSSION
If you have any comments or want to express your opinions, please mail me. I do not guarantee personal answers to everyone, but I will collect any contributions and I will try to give them visibility. Due to my limitations with languages, please write in English (preferred in this context), Italian, or French.
If you have related links to suggest, please let me know. I will add them to the list.
DISCLAIMER
In any case I reserve to myself the decision to publish or not any received contribution or link. In no case I will be held responsible for infringements or damages of any sort arising from the debate or from the act of publishing any received material or link or arising from any download. I remember that downloading is claimed to be an intrinsically dangerous operation (anyway, anyone of us downloads). This is a discussion area, subject to freedom of expression only. No received contribution will be considered as Copyrighted or Patented information. Web space constraints may limit or preclude the appearance of some possible contributions.
Copyright © 1996. b.caudana@ieee.org
Document URL: http://geocities.datacellar.net/Athens/3020/
Last modified June 9, 1998. [ Site Reference ]
Question Stated < italian version >
Ethics is usually believed an important source of inspiration for addressing our behaviour. In a sense, we can say that any action we do has ethical implications. Any plan, any design, any engineering activity can be looked at as ethically driven.
However before asking whether Ethics can constrain anybody's choices, one should ask whether ethical reasonings have any meaning independently of desires, passions and sympathy (as "similarity of passions"). And one should also ask what choices are respect to actions. For sure our brain is involved at many levels in this activity.
Are Ethics and Utopia a sort of information technology for groups of humans to boost the resource flow in their favour? Is that the ultimate unconscious reason of their origin and persistence in history?
* Download this Article (xx KB ZIPped) [ download instructions ] < italian version >
On Sustainability as Peacock-mutualism
This is a note on Prof. K. A. Peacock's article:
Sustainability As Mutualism
Between Humans and the Earth:
or, Can We Be the Forehead
Mites of Gaia?
< Some notes and questions to
Prof. Peacock >
* Download this Article (45 KB ZIPped) [ download instructions ]
Is Sustainability Governable? Definitely No
Synopsis:
Darwinian evolution, characterising any Sustainable biological environment,
challenges the Plan idea of any Government notion. These perspectives seem
antinomic. Local rationality often contrasts Global rationality.
Abstract:
Common figures depict a rich North (20% population, 80% resources) against a poor
South (80% population, 20% resources). A physical principle says: if there are potential
differences, flows and resistances arise to search system equilibrium. If we limit our
analysis to this two-pole system bound by limited resources in some way, three cardinal
equilibrating scenarios emerge: (a) Northern Lifestyle Extension to Everyone
[multiply by 4 current environment load]; (b) Equal Resource Share [multiply by 4
current population load of Northern countries without expanding resource use]; (c)
Conversion Efficiency Increase [perform 4 times better than now with an expensive
complete inexperienced theoretical renewal of resource conversion technology]. All this
if, optimistically, today's world population won't increase. None of these equilibrium
points seems achievable without explosive conflicts. Current trend is clearly towards (a)
direction. Furthermore, humans, as every bio-organism undergoing natural selection, tend
to over-reproduce, invade every ecological niche and differentiate, as Darwin pointed out.
Biological struggle for life and offspring random variation (notions hopefully on the
fingertips of ecosystem speaking people) are the basis of evolution and production
of biodiversity. This biological evidence challenges any Plan idea embedded
in the notion of Government. This antinomy produces contradictions that reflect on
actions taken. Thus, for instance, maintaining high regional differences may generate
unsustainable tensions; but migrations of humans, or migration of employment chances in
the opposite direction, may generate unsustainable tensions as well, from a Good
Government point of view. What seems rational from a global point of view becomes
impracticable from the local one, and vice versa. Conflicts anywhere seem unavoidable. A
fundamental rethinking of universalised ethics notions like Common Good, Rights,
Democracy, Sustainable Development, Directed Ecology, etc. seems mandatory too.
Misunderstandings at this level may produce inconsistent illusions and unexpected results.
* Download this Article (65 KB ZIPped) [ download instructions ]
Some Notes on the Problem of the Origin of Ethical Norms
Synopsis:
Ethics notions seem self evident and immediately meaningful to us. However a
closer look at these notions shows that they depend on a static view of ourselves
and our world. This produces many paradoxes when we consider the mechanics of life
and its evolution, along with environment constraints. Ethics notions tend
to become meaningless when evolution is considered.
< Italian version is
available for download >
< la versione italiana puo` essere
scaricata >
(Sorry, this article is in Italian only, for now)
Answer to an alleged creationist
Very recently in the Italian Newspaper La Stampa and in its web portal (Ciao WEB) there has been an exchange of comments on the "Silence of God" and an allegedly "creationist" letter surfaced.One would think it useless to bother anymore and would dismiss the slur without any comment. Unfortunately the creationist attitude is still ruling the policies of governments causing tragedies, sorrow, pain, desperation, guilt and unhappiness all over the world.
* Download all these Articles (80 KB ZIPped) [ download instructions ]
(Sorry, these articles are in Italian only, for now)
This bibliography has no ambition to be complete. Each of the quoted texts contains further and more systematic bibliography. Here I tried to focus only on those texts with broad range coverage of a discipline and/or on texts with introductory or foundational or problem posing characteristics.
Link indication does not mean endorsement of its content in any way.
Neurobiology,
Neural Networks,
Artificial Life
links
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LINK LISTS
Other more complete resource lists may be found here:
***
PUBLISHERS
It may be interesting to take a look at some publishers that are largely involved
in this area:
GUIDES AND LINKS
***
ETHICS SITES
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CLASSICS
***
CLASSICS UNABRIDGED TEXTS
You may search here for CLASSICS TEXTS
Environmental Ethics,
Sustainability Debate
and Utopia
links
On Environmental Ethics, Sutainability Debate and Utopia you may take a look here:
INFOSEEK ULTRA
ALTA VISTA search engine
A lot of information may be retrived at Alta
Vista search engine.
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