A Darwinian Left : politics, evolution, and cooperation / Peter Singer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Singer, Peter, 1946-

Series:

Darwinism today (New Haven, Conn.)

Darwinism today

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social Darwinism.

Right and left (Political science).

Socialism.

Human evolution.

Physical Description:

ix, 70 pages ; 19 cm.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2000.

Summary:

In this book, a renowned bioethicist argues that the political left must radically revise its outdated view of human nature.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:

1 Politics and Darwinism 10

The right-wing takeover 10

Facts and values 12

How the left got Darwin wrong 19

The dream of perfectibility 24

Old tunes keep coming back 28

2 Can the Left Accept a Darwinian View of Human Nature? 31

Unpopular ideas 31

What is fixed and what is variable in human nature? 35

How can reformers learn from Darwin? 40

3 Competition or Cooperation? 44

Building a more cooperative society 44

The prisoner's dilemma 47

Learning from Tit for Tat 51

4 From Cooperation to Altruism? 54

The puzzle of the evolution of altruism 54

Status for what? 58

5 A Darwinian Left for Today and Beyond 60.

Notes:

Originally published: London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 64-70) and index.

ISBN:

0300083238

OCLC:

42780773