The Science of Good and Evil Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule

From bestselling author Michael Shermer, an investigation of the evolution of morality that is "a paragon of popularized science and philosophy" The Sun (Baltimore) A century and a half after Darwin first proposed an "evolutionary ethics," science has begun to tackle the roots of morality. Just as evolutionary biologists study why we are hungry (to motivate us to eat) or why sex is enjoyable (to motivate us to procreate), they are now searching for the very nature of humanity. InThe Science of Good and Evil, science historian Michael Shermer explores how humans evolved from social primates to moral primates; how and why morality motivates the human animal; and how the foundation of moral principles can be built upon empirical evidence. Along the way he explains the implications of scientific findings for fate and free will, the existence of pure good and pure evil, and the development of early moral sentiments among the first humans. As he closes the divide between science and morality, Shermer draws on stories from the Yanamamouml;, infamously known as the "fierce people" of the tropical rain forest, to the Stanford studies on jailers' behavior in prisons.The Science of Good and Evilis ultimately a profound look at the moral animal, belief, and the scientific pursuit of truth.

Michael Shermer is the publisher of Skeptic magazine, the founder and director of the Skeptics Society, and a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He is the author of the bestselling Why People Believe Weird Things, How We Believe, and Science Friction, which will be published in January 2005 (see page 35). He lives in Los Angeles, California.