Ethics and evolutionary psychology

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A major concern of evolutionary psychology is the basis of psychological traits and behaviours related to ethics (morality). Evolutionary Psychology in general attempts to explain major features of psychology in terms of species-wide evolved (via natural selection) predispositions. In many species, this involves altruistic behaviours, or, conversely, deceptive or harmful behaviours. In humans and possibly some other species, it can include phenomena such as a sense of right and wrong, feelings of kindness or love related to altruism and self-sacrifice (including 'brotherly love'), feelings related to competitiveness and moral punishment or retribution, moral 'cheating' or hypocrisy, and inclinations for any of those actions judged morally good or bad by (at least some within) society.

A key question for evolutionary psychology to address is how altruistic feelings and behaviors evolved when the process of natural selection is based on competition between different genes.

[edit] Key theories

Kin altruism: Altruism between close relatives can be selected for (i.e. the genes disposing an organism towards the behaviour could have succeeded) if the donor and recipient are significantly more related than two individuals picked from the population at random. This is because there is a high-enough probability that copies of the genes predisposing the organisims towards the altruistic beahviour are contained in the genome of both parties involved.

(Direct) reciprocal altruism: This is the basic "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" relationship and lies at the heart of evolutionary ethics. It states that by helping others at some cost to ourself, we can receive help in return which can make the altruism ultimately beneficial to the genes that predispose organisms towards it.

(Indirect) reciprocal altruism expands this concept to include reciprocation by third parties, and indicates the possible evolutionary importance of 'moral' reputation.

Group selection theories. These argue that genes which dispose organisms to benefit the entire group or species, regardless of any benefit to the individual concerned relative to others in the group, may still have succeeded during evolution, thus providing an additional, and possibly 'higher' basis for ethics.