T. M. Scanlon offers a qualified defense of normative cognitivism—the view that there are irreducibly normative truths about reasons for action. He responds to three familiar objections: that such truths would have troubling metaphysical implications; that we would have no way of knowing what they are; and that the role of reasons in motivating and explaining action could not be explained if accepting a conclusion about reasons for action were a kind of belief. Scanlon answers the first of these objections within a general account of ontological commitment, applying to mathematics as well as normative judgments. He argues that the method of reflective equilibrium, properly understood, provides an adequate account of how we come to know both normative truths and mathematical truths, and that the idea of a rational agent explains the link between an agent's normative beliefs and his or her actions. Whether every statement about reasons for action has a determinate truth value is a question to be answered by an overall account of reasons for action, in normative terms. Since it seems unlikely that there is such an account, the defense of normative cognitivism offered here is qualified: statements about reasons for action can have determinate truth values, but it is not clear that all of them do. Along the way, Scanlon offers an interpretation of the distinction between normative and non-normative claims, a new account of the supervenience of the normative on the non-normative, an interpretation of the idea of the relative strength of reasons, and a defense of the method of reflective equilibrium.

道德思想贯穿着我们的现实生活，但这种道德思想的起源在哪里，这种思想的目的是什么？是人类在几百万年前迫于恶劣的生活坏境而成形的，还是在晚近时的一种文化发明？在经过自然选择的历程之后，人类大脑是否在进行道德判断时，在生理机能上已经做好了规避道德怀疑主义同时强调道德现实主义的 准备？道德能否在基因层面上找到自洽的解释——帮助我们祖先繁衍更多后代的一种工具？这种解释是否又会降低道德在我们生活中的核心地位？本书以生物学和社会学的视角入手，回应了这些极具争议的问题，结合实证科学和哲学探讨试图证明人类道德的先赋性，解析人类的道德和道德感是如何在自然选择和社会互动中演化的。
本书作者理查德·乔伊斯整合最新实证科学成果和哲学学术探讨进行跨学科研究。《道德的演化》是少数从道德哲学角度进行阐释的著作，论证严谨，语言扼要，鲜有艰涩的学术用语，适合来自各学科背景的读者阅读。
综合生物学和社会学重要研究成果，以独特视角重新梳理与剖析人类道德起源。
【名人推荐】
道德的本质就是当我们做出道德判断时可以问心无愧。人类是一种根据情感做出决断的生物。而道德常常被视为人类本性的对立面：道德的作用就是抑制人类的欲望。道德感会随着人类社会一起演化。从演化的视角，理查德·乔伊斯给出了一套极富启示意义的答案，从道德的角度定义了“我们”是谁，再没有什么比这个更为重要。——欧文·弗拉纳根 (杜克大学哲学系教授)
为什么人类不仅仅会相互帮助，并在相互伤害的时候感到痛心疾首？为什么人类会在帮助或者伤害他人的时候做出特殊的道德判断？再没有比理查德·乔伊斯在这本书中给出的解释更清晰和振聋发聩了。他的答案将会挑战其他哲学家，并将讨论提升到一个新的层次。 ——沃尔特·西诺特—阿姆斯特朗(达特茅斯学院哲学系教授)