Morality, Evolution, and Religion

The op-ed columnist David Brooks has a good piece on morality, "The End of Philosophy," in today's New York Times. He draws from contemporary science's finding about morality being embedded in our species long evolutionary history, but emphasizes that morality is as much about cooperation as it is about competition.

He concludes with a statement/challenge regarding the scientists who study morality: "They’re good at explaining how people make judgments about harm and fairness, but they still struggle to explain the feelings of awe, transcendence, patriotism, joy and self-sacrifice, which are not ancillary to most people’s moral experiences, but central. The evolutionary approach also leads many scientists to neglect the concept of individual responsibility and makes it hard for them to appreciate that most people struggle toward goodness, not as a means, but as an end in itself."

In my estimation Mr. Brooks is among a handful of popular voices who seek to bridge contemporary science's knowledge and religion's traditional values. I don't always agree with him; but I respect him, because he acknowledge's the writing on the wall. In today's column he accepts the "evolutionary approach to morality" that contemporary science offers.