Bending the Rules
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Do-unto-others-as-you-would-have-them-do-unto-you. Who would disagree with this "Golden Rule?" We regard it as the basis of an absolute and universal morality. And yet it is considered acceptable to kill the enemy in war; for a businessman to do the best for himself; for a lawyer to argue professionally for a position he would personally reject. Are the moral rules we live by more flexible than they seem at first sight?In Bending the Rules Robert Hinde does not follow the much-trodden path of philosophizing about what is right and just. Instead, he uses an approach grounded in the behavioral sciences to explore the nature of morality, what people actually do, what they believe to be right, and what values they hold, and how these positions came to be. Such a deeper understanding of morality, he argues, as a product of biological and cultural evolution, and changing with social environment, holds out hope that we can avoid disaster and steer society towards peace and equity in the twenty-first century.
Features
- This is a new approach to morality combining an evolutionary approach with observations on how people actually behave in the real world.
- Considers how we bend the rules of morality in a variety of situations, from personal relationships to science, law, business, politics and war.
- Written with contributions from Nobel Peace Laureate Sir Joseph Rotblat.
- Robert A. Hinde is an eminent biologist who also has a long career as a high-profile campaigner for peace and ethical responsibility within science.
- Takes a humanist standpoint - arguing for a deeper appreciation of the nature of morality so that we may avoid global catastrophe, and strive for a more ethical, just, and peaceful world.
About the Author(s)
Robert A. Hinde is Emeritus Professor of Ethology at the University of Cambridge, and former Master of St. John's College, Cambridge. He is Chair of the British Pugwash Group (an organization set up in the 1950s to urge for greater social responsibility in science), President of the Movement for the Abolition of War, Fellow of the Royal Society, Honorary Fellow of the British Academy, Honorary Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, and Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His academic career spans ethology, primatology, and developmental and social psychology, and his most recent books include War No More (2003, with Joseph Rotblat); Why good is good (2002); and Why Gods Persist: A Scientific Approach to Religion (1999).
