The Evolution of Evil An Inquiry into the Ultimate Origins of Human Suffering

by Anders, Timothy

• ISBN13: 9780812691757
• ISBN10: 081269175X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-26
• Publisher: Open Court

Summary

For all its beauty and splendor, the world is replete with suffering, hardship, and misery. Why does evil exist? Is evil necessary? Can we ever hope to abolish evil? Philosophers, theologians, scientists, and laypeople have often pondered these questions, but their answers have generally been unconvincing or unhelpful. They have sometimes tried vainly to show that all evil is really for the best, and sometimes to dismiss the problem of evil as too profound to be answered. In The Evolution of Evil, Timothy Anders offers an original and persuasive solution to the 'Problem of Evil, ' one that is grounded in science. According to Anders, the root of all human suffering, and hence of all evil, is to be found in the historical process by which human life was created: evolution by natural selection. The compelling simplicity of this explanation has been overlooked because of several widely-held misconceptions, notably the view that evolution favors the good and eliminates the bad, or that evolution favors an inexorable ascent to 'higher,' more intelligent, and more complex forms. At the heart of these misconceptions lie prejudices such as anthropocentrism -- the view that humankind is the 'point' of the universe, and that things therefore tend to be arranged for humanity's benefit; the assumption that nature is essentially benevolent toward humans; and political utopianism, which proclaims that it is possible to bring about a perfect or nearly perfect society. Anders exposes the roots of evil in humankind's biological background, showing that evolution is not benevolent or progressive, and that it tends to lead to suffering which can sometimes be mitigated but never entirely banished. Ourprimate ancestry has left us with many 'scars of evolution, ' inefficient components which lead to pain and disappointment. Anders shows that humans are especially poorly adapted to their environment. The fact that they rely heavily on culture and intelligence is not an unmixed blessing.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
The Roots of Evil	p. 1
The Origins of Evil in Religious Traditions	p. 3
The Stoic Theodicy	p. 6
Is Evil Good?	p. 10
The Metaphysics of Evil	p. 13
The Darwinian Revolution	p. 17
Evolution and Evil	p. 21
Natural Selection: Good or Bad?	p. 25
The Anthropocentric Prejudice	p. 27
The Benevolence-of-Nature Prejudice	p. 28
Political Utopianism	p. 29
Is Evolution Progressive?	p. 30
Is Evolution Perfective?	p. 45
Does Evolution Mean 'Survival of the Fittest'?	p. 54
Does Evolution Occur 'For the Good of' the Species?	p. 56
Does Evolution Occur 'For the Good of' the Individual?	p. 63
Is Nature Benevolent?	p. 67
The Mechanical Misfit	p. 73
The Origin of the Primates	p. 76
The Bipedal Primate	p. 82
The Scars of Human Evolution	p. 87
A Sweaty and Thirsty Naked Animal	p. 93
The Makeshift Animal	p. 98
The Maladaptable Species	p. 101
The Evolution of Human Intelligence	p. 103
The 'Advantages' of Human Intelligence	p. 110
The Price of Behavioral Flexibility	p. 114
The Maladaptable Species	p. 119
The Cost of Intelligent Awareness	p. 126
Intelligence and Warfare	p. 128
The Limits of Human Adaptability	p. 132
The Carefree Savage Revisited	p. 141
The Human Zoo	p. 145
The Roots of Rousseauianism	p. 147
Hobbes's Indictment of Primitive Society	p. 150
The Flux of Anthropological Theory	p. 151
Challenges to Hobbesian Anthropology	p. 154
Does Hunting Bring Happiness?	p. 156
Are Primitive People Mentally Healthy?	p. 161
The View from Ethnopsychiatry	p. 162
Suicide in Primitive Society	p. 163
Psychosis in Primitive Society	p. 165
The Roots of Malcontent	p. 168
The Cultural Animal	p. 170
Culture and Work	p. 172
The Evil of Obligatory Work	p. 175
The Self-Conscious Animal	p. 179
The Evolution of Self-Awareness	p. 181
The Consequences of Self-Awareness	p. 185
The Awareness of Time	p. 190
The Awareness of Death	p. 195
Man, the Necessitous Animal	p. 197
Man Against Man: The Genesis of Interpersonal Conflict	p. 203
The Origin of Life and the Origin of Conflict	p. 204
Conflict in the Animal World	p. 209
Human Conflict: the Rousseauian View	p. 220
Conflict and Prehistoric Humans	p. 224
Conflict among Hunter-Gatherers	p. 233
Peace, Conflict, and the Suppression of Conflict	p. 236
Biology, Behavioral Flexibility, and Conflict	p. 238
Are Humans Evil?	p. 241
Sex and Violence: The Evolutionary Origins of the War between Men and Women	p. 245
The Origin of Sex and the Origin of the Sexes	p. 250
Males, Females, and Reproductive Strategy	p. 255
Female Choice	p. 258
Female Selection and Male-Male Competition	p. 262
Parental Investment and Sexual Selection	p. 264
Parental Investment and Sexual Selection in Humans	p. 272
Mate Choice and Reproductive Success in Women	p. 283
Female Choice and Male Frustration	p. 287
Male Sexual Frustration	p. 288
Rape, Violence, and Sex	p. 290
Intrasexual Competition among Humans	p. 295
Coolidge's Law	p. 297
The Social Creature	p. 299
Defense against Predation	p. 302
Predatory Efficiency	p. 305
Increased Competitive Ability	p. 307
Increased Feeding Efficiency	p. 308
Is Growing Sociality Inevitable?	p. 308
The Drawbacks of Social Living	p. 311
Primate Models for Human Sociality	p. 313
The Evolution of Human Sociality	p. 316
The Consequences of Human Sociality	p. 319
The Roots of Evil	p. 323
Epilogue: The Mystery Solved	p. 327
The How and the Why: What's the Difference?	p. 329
Why?	p. 331
A Summary of My Conclusions	p. 334
Notes	p. 337
Bibliography	p. 355
Index	p. 375
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