1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910451738103321

Autore

Midgley Mary <1919-2018, >

Titolo

The solitary self : Darwin and the selfish gene / / Mary Midgley

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York : , : Routledge, , 2014

ISBN

1-317-48824-5

1-315-71020-X

1-280-12013-4

9786613524027

1-84465-483-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (161 p.)

Collana

Heretics

Disciplina

231.7652

Soggetti

Philosophy

Philosophy & Religion

Ethics

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

First published 2010 by Acumen.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (pages 145-147) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Introduction; 1. Pseudo-Darwinism and social atomism; 2. The background: egoism from Hobbes to R. D. Laing; 3. The natural springs of morality; 4. Coming to terms with reason; 5. Darwin's new broom; 6. The self's strange adventures; Conclusion: the wider perspective; Bibliography; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Renowned philosopher Mary Midgley explores the nature of our moral constitution to challenge the view that reduces human motivation to self-interest. Midgley argues cogently and convincingly that simple, one-sided accounts of human motives, such as the 'selfish gene' tendency in recent neo-Darwinian thought, may be illuminating but are always unrealistic. Such neatness, she shows, cannot be imposed on human psychology. She returns to Darwin's original writings to show how the reductive individualism which is now presented as Darwinism does not derive from Darwin but from a wider, Hobbesian tra