Published: October 1997 (All day)
The Origins of Virtue argues that the human mind has evolved a
special instinct for social exchange that enables us to reap the
benefits of co-operation, ostracise those who break the social
contract and avoid the trap of being 'rational fools'.
It traces the evolution of society first among genes, then among
cells, then in ants, vampire bats, apes and dolphins, and finally
among human beings. Along the way, it plays games with computers,
traces the psychological roots of football riots, finds trade to be
ten times as old as economists believe, compares dead mammoths to
lighthouses, explains the evolution of human emotions and shows how
to save the rain forest.
Buy The Origins of Virtue: Human
Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation
Buy it from my favourite bookshop Aldeburgh Bookshop
Book Reviews
'Dashing, apophthegmatic, ingenious in argument and beautifully
constructed'-Galen Strawson
'Enthralling and provocative'- Penelope Lively
It has done it brilliantly' - A.S.Byatt
'Bracing, informative, amusing and infuriating by turns' -
Maggie Gee
'I was enthralled by it all' - Ruth Rendell
