ABSTRACT

In The Ethical Primate, Mary Midgley, 'one of the sharpest critical pens in the West' according to the Times Literary Supplement, addresses the fundamental question of human freedom.
Scientists and philosophers have found it difficult to understand how each human-being can be a living part of the natural world and still be free. Midgley explores their responses to this seeming paradox and argues that our evolutionary origin explains both why and how human freedom and morality have come about.

part I|24 pages

The Problem

chapter 1|10 pages

Inner Divisions

chapter 2|12 pages

Misguided Debates

part II|68 pages

The Reductive Enterprise

part III|62 pages

The Sources and Meaning of Morals

chapter 9|14 pages

Agency and Ethics

chapter 10|12 pages

Modern Myths

chapter 11|7 pages

The Strength of Individualism

chapter 14|14 pages

The uses of Sympathy

part IV|30 pages

What kind of Freedom?

chapter 15|12 pages

On being Terrestrial

chapter 16|8 pages

What kind of Beings are Free?

chapter 17|8 pages

Minds Resist Streamlining