Post-Darwinian Societies: Ingela Alger and Jean-François Laslier, “Homo Moralis, a model of moral behavior grounded on evolutionary arguments”

Series: Post-Darwinian Societies

Speakers: Ingela Alger (TSE IAST) and Jean-François Laslier (PSE CNRS)

Registration: Free, but mandatory, please e-mail dina.geron@uclouvain.be

Abstract: “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 a partial Kantian moral concern. The talk will provide a precise account of the ultimate forces behind this result, and discuss implications of the said preferences.