The Moral Animal

In this work, Robert Wright examines a science that has emerged from the work of evolutionary biologists and social scientists. Taking the life and work of the evolutionist Charles Darwin as his context, Wright seeks to demonstrate how Darwin's ideas have stood the test of time and retells - from the perspective of evolutionary psychology - the stories of Darwin's marriage, family, life and career. From this paradigm, Wright draws conclusions about the structure of our most basic preoccupations - sex, ambition, politics, justice - aiming to throw light on the background of these fundamental instincts, and to show why they are so important to us. The work poses questions about not only the biological bases for morality, but also the biological bases for amorality.