The Moral Animal
The Moral Animal is a 1994 book by the journalist Robert Wright, in which the author explores many aspects of everyday life through evolutionary biology.
 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Robert Wright |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subjects | Social evolution, Evolutionary psychology, Morality, Ethics |
| Publisher | Vintage Books |
Publication date | 1994 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 466 pages (paperback) |
| ISBN | 0-679-76399-6 (1st edition, hardcover) |
| OCLC | 33496013 |
Summary
Wright explores many aspects of everyday life through evolutionary biology. He provides Darwinian explanations for human behavior and psychology, social dynamics and structures, as well as people's relationships with lovers, friends, and family.
Wright borrows extensively from Charles Darwin's better-known publications, including On the Origin of Species (1859), but also from his chronicles and personal writings, illustrating behavioral principles with Darwin's own biographical examples.
Reception
The New York Times Book Review chose The Moral Animal as one of the 12 best books of 1994; it was a national bestseller and has been published in 12 languages. The paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould criticized the book in The New York Review of Books.[1] The anthropologist Melvin Konner called the book "delightful".[2]
See also
References
- Gould, Stephen Jay. Evolution: The Pleasures of Pluralism, The New York Review of Books. June 26, 1997.
- Konner, Melvin. The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit. Times Books, 2002, p. 498.
Bibliographical information
- Robert Wright (1995-08-29). The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-679-76399-4.
External links
- Stevin Pinker's New York Times Book Review article on The Moral Animal.
- Booknotes interview with Wright on Moral Animal, January 8, 1995.