A Darwinian Left: Politics, Evolution and CooperationIn this ground-breaking book, a renowned bioethicist argues that the political left must radically revise its outdated view of human nature.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. |
Contents
Can the Left Accept a Darwinian View of Human Nature? | |
Competition or Cooperation? | |
From Cooperation to Altruism? | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
achieve acting altruistically altruism American Bakunin basis behaviour that shows beliefs benefits better biological capitalist Carnegie century cheats communist society competitive society consciousness Darwinian left Darwinian political Darwinian thinking Darwinian thought Darwinism Today E. O. Wilson ethical premises evolutionary theory evolved form hierarchies human history human nature human societies humans and animals idea individual influence insulin interests intraspecific competition John Maynard Smith Kropotkin Lamarckian left needs live malleability Malthus Marx and Engels Marx’s Marxists materialist theory Mead mode of production mutually beneficial nonhuman animals Origin of Species pay-offs possible pre-Darwinian prisoner prisoner’s dilemma reciprocal altruism recognise rejected result Richard Dawkins self-interest social and economic Social Darwinism Sociobiology Soviet species Spira Statism status strangers strategy struggle for existence suggest survive theory of evolution theory of history Tit for Tat Trotskyist understand University Press Utopian variation across culture view of human wealth women workers worst-off