ragland37{at}webtv.net (Michael Ragland) wrote in message
news:...
> Challenges for Evolutionary Ethics
> 
> How can a trait that was developed under the pressure of natural
> selection explain moral actions that go far beyond reciprocal altruism
> or enlightened self-interest? How can, for instance, the action of
> Maximilian Kolbe be explained from a biological point of view? (Kolbe
> was a German priest who starved himself to death in a concentration camp
> to rescue a fellow prisoner.) 
> 
> Could not human beings have moved beyond their biological roots and
> transcended their evolutionary origins, in which case they would be able
> to formulate goals in the pursuit of goodness, beauty, and truth that
> "have nothing to do directly with survival, and which may at times
> militate against survival?" (O'Hear, 1997: 203).
> 
This is the theme of my article Alive and Human. Evolution and Reason
are two decoupled survival systems. Reason provides analogies to
Evolution in a different level, like superseding biological adaptation
with technological adaptation. Other examples can be found in the
aforementioned article (google groups). For all practical
considerations evolution is stopped and that is the main difference
between Rational Living Beings (Man) and Irrational Living Beings.
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