Sociobiology and philosophical ethics: Narrowing the gap

Though there are good reasons for thinking that sociobiology is capable of contributing to the solution of one of the central problems of philosophical ethics, the problem of other-benefitting behaviour, philosophers have not welcomed the new discipline with open arms. This has been so for three reasons: it is said that sociobiology studies behaviour, and not its proximal causes, that sociobiology tells us about the evolutionary history of behaviour and not about its justification, and that sociobiology prescribes morally unacceptable ways of acting. I argue that the first of the objections is simply mistaken, and that when we realize this, the second loses some of its force. I also argue in favour of atwo-factor model of motivation with reason and the emotions engaged in a dialogue with each other concerning the morally relevant features of a given situation. This two-factor model helps us overcome the third objection above, namely to the morally unacceptable dictates of sociobiology, and also to weaken claims that sociobiology is committed to a lack of freedom of the will in human action. Broadly speaking, my argument suggest that the ethical framework most suited to accommodating sociobiological insights into human motivation is an Aristotelian structure.     

A rejoinder onOryctina (Loranthaceae)

Both of the two main generic features ofOryctina (Loranthaceae), i.e., its dioeciousness and its absence of floral bracteoles, are based on misinterpretations. Instead, both species appear to be monoecious, and both are bracteolate. Nevertheless,Oryctina should be maintained as a distinct genus, probably most closely related toMaracanthus.     

Ethology, Zoosemiotic and Sociobiology

Current research reveals that the somewhat separate subdisciplinesethology, zoosemiotic and sociobiology function together inclarifying animal behavior. Ethology is taken as the study ofindividual behavioral patterns, zoosemiotic as the study ofanimal communication, and sociobiology as the study of socialorganization. The explosive progress in all research areas cannotbe summarized briefly but examples are drawn to provide theflavor of each subdiscipline and their interactions. Among theillustrative topics selected are behavioral development, animalorientation, signal structure, the context of communication,language, mating systems and cooperative breeding. At juncturessome possible paths toward future study are identified, butthe concluding examples point to the principal theme and prediction:the integrated study of behavior combining historically distinctapproaches—which promises to help clarify not only thelives of our fellow earthly inhabitants but our own lives aswell.