2022 Atkinson Memorial Lecture - Evolutionary foundations of morality and altruism — recent advances


This event will be in-person and also streamed online. In either case, please register for this event - online participants will receive a link for viewing after registering. The in person event will be followed by a drinks reception, 5-6pm at the Manor Road Building. If you would like to meet with the speaker or to attend the lecture dinner, please email gpi-office@philosophy.ox.ac.uk (spaces are limited).

“Survival of the fittest” is often taken to imply that human life must be the Hobbesian “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” However, recent theoretical analyses of the evolution of preferences guiding behaviors of individuals show, on the contrary, that natural selection promotes a particular form of preferences, which may be interpreted as implying both a Kantian moral concern and an other-regarding concern. The talk will provide an account of the ultimate forces behind this result, and discuss implications of the said preferences.