Did Morality First Evolve in Homo erectus?
With findings from cognitive science, neuroscience, information science, and paleoanthropology, an anthropologist and astronomer-priest team take a new look at the nature of morality, and suggest parameters that are often very different from the philosophical and theological literatures. They see mo...
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2016-12-01
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doaj-80880d4fe0604bf09d358a05d7b873f82020-11-25T00:08:10ZdeuCopernicus Center PressZagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce0867-82862451-06022016-12-0161105131364Did Morality First Evolve in Homo erectus?Margaret Boone Rappaport0Christopher Corbally SJ1The Human Sentience ProjectVatican Observatory; Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona, TucsonWith findings from cognitive science, neuroscience, information science, and paleoanthropology, an anthropologist and astronomer-priest team take a new look at the nature of morality, and suggest parameters that are often very different from the philosophical and theological literatures. They see morality as a biologically-based arbitration mechanism that works along a timeline with a valence of good to bad. It is rational, purposeful, social, and affected by emotion but not dominated by it. The authors examine the age and sex structure, family roles, environment, cognition, and lifeway of Homo erectus, an early hominin who arose 1.9 million years ago, and propose that he had a rudimentary moral system that his biology and culture enabled – but only after he learned to control fire. Hearths gave rise to an intense, social, emotional, experiential context where belief systems could be learned by youth before they achieved adult cognition.http://zfn.edu.pl/index.php/zfn/article/view/360cognitive sciencecultureevolutionHomo erectushomininLeft Hemisphere Interpreter (LHI)neurosciencepaleoanthropologyscavengingsociabilitysociality |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
deu |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Margaret Boone Rappaport Christopher Corbally SJ |
spellingShingle |
Margaret Boone Rappaport Christopher Corbally SJ Did Morality First Evolve in Homo erectus? Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce cognitive science culture evolution Homo erectus hominin Left Hemisphere Interpreter (LHI) neuroscience paleoanthropology scavenging sociability sociality |
author_facet |
Margaret Boone Rappaport Christopher Corbally SJ |
author_sort |
Margaret Boone Rappaport |
title |
Did Morality First Evolve in Homo erectus? |
title_short |
Did Morality First Evolve in Homo erectus? |
title_full |
Did Morality First Evolve in Homo erectus? |
title_fullStr |
Did Morality First Evolve in Homo erectus? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Did Morality First Evolve in Homo erectus? |
title_sort |
did morality first evolve in homo erectus? |
publisher |
Copernicus Center Press |
series |
Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce |
issn |
0867-8286 2451-0602 |
publishDate |
2016-12-01 |
description |
With findings from cognitive science, neuroscience, information science, and paleoanthropology, an anthropologist and astronomer-priest team take a new look at the nature of morality, and suggest parameters that are often very different from the philosophical and theological literatures. They see morality as a biologically-based arbitration mechanism that works along a timeline with a valence of good to bad. It is rational, purposeful, social, and affected by emotion but not dominated by it. The authors examine the age and sex structure, family roles, environment, cognition, and lifeway of Homo erectus, an early hominin who arose 1.9 million years ago, and propose that he had a rudimentary moral system that his biology and culture enabled – but only after he learned to control fire. Hearths gave rise to an intense, social, emotional, experiential context where belief systems could be learned by youth before they achieved adult cognition. |
topic |
cognitive science culture evolution Homo erectus hominin Left Hemisphere Interpreter (LHI) neuroscience paleoanthropology scavenging sociability sociality |
url |
http://zfn.edu.pl/index.php/zfn/article/view/360 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT margaretboonerappaport didmoralityfirstevolveinhomoerectus AT christophercorballysj didmoralityfirstevolveinhomoerectus |
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