ETHICS BASED ON THEORY OF EVOLUTION

The previous view of self realisation as ethical end is highly sublime. Ethics based on biological evolution is mundane. Herbert Spencer is the chief exponent of these ideas. These theories of Ethics follow the pattern of explanation of biological evolution which Darwin gave in The Origin of Species. According to Darwin, the development of animal species takes place by means of a struggle for existence in which the fittest survive. This process is known as natural selection of biological species. Natural Selection is a process in which different species with characteristic structures (bodily forms) contend for supremacy. Some species survive in this process (which often stretches over millions of years) and become relatively permanent. In animal world, the struggle is both between individuals within species and between species. Certain individuals or sets of individuals happen to be born with peculiar natural gifts. These gifts turn out to be such as make them more fit to survive than other individuals; and accordingly they do survive, and transmit their characteristics to their descendants, while their less favoured rivals die out. In the process, some species disappear while the “more fit” survive. It should be understood that ‘fitness’ here refers to appropriate adaptation to environment, which ensures survival.

Moral theories based on ideas of biological evolution are no longer popular. But they are of historical interest reflecting how theoretical models from biology were applied in Ethics. Moral thinkers found these models appealing since they contained the notion of development. However, human ethics cannot be reduced to or grounded in processes that are found in nature. As has been observed, “Ethics is about neither the origins nor the history of morals. It looks at human ideals and how they influence conduct. Now the ideal is what humanity hopes to be and determines the direction of human moral development.”

Unlike earlier moral theorists of nineteenth century, modern moral thinkers view the relation between ethics and evolution differently. One group of thinkers believe that human beings were involved in intense struggle for survival, and that this left a lasting imprint on their mental makeup. In the evolutionary process men became aggressive, ruthless, and self serving. It needs enormous effort to overcome these anti-social qualities which got embedded in human nature in the process of evolution. The other group of thinkers believe that men acquired many beneficent and other- regarding qualities in the process of evolution – especially in relation to their family and group. They also emphasise that animal behaviour shows many instances of reciprocalaltruism.