Customer Reviews

The Expanding Circle: Ethics and Sociobiology

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This book is a short, lucid essay on the implications of sociobiology for ethical philosophy. Every part is interesting but the high points include: (a) the discussion of why the fact/value dichotomy makes it impossible to derive ethical rules from the results of sociobiology; (b) the description of how the give-and-take of ethical argumentation leads to the adoption of an impartial point of view and, eventually, to a utilitarian ethics that encompasses all of humanity (the "expanding circle" of altruism to which the title refers); and (c) the analysis of why an impartial utilitarian ethic, to be effective, must be embodied in specific, inevitably-partial social rules that harness the realities of biological human nature. It's not too glib to say that Singer begins with Edward Wilson and ends with Edmund Burke.

Readers should not pick up this book expecting to find an even-handed introduction to ethics. The argument develops Singer's own views, giving scant attention to alternative positions; one huge omission is the failure to discuss John Rawls' non-utilitarian version of the impartial point of view. That said, Singer's writing is clear and non-technical, the steps in his argument are carefully laid out, his judgments are sensible, and the issues he discusses are of perennial interest (even though sociobiology's heyday has come and gone). Popular philosophy rarely gets better than this.