ABSTRACT
To what degree has biology injluenced and shaped the development o( moral systems? One way to determine the extent to wh ich human moral systems might be the product o(natural selection is to explore behaviour in other species that is analogous and perhaps homologous to our own. Many non-human primates. for example, have similar method~ to humansfor resolving, managing, and preventing conflicts o.(interests within their groups. Such methods, which include reciprocity andfood sharing, reconciliation, consolation, conjlict intervention, and mediation, are the very building blocks of moral systems in that they are based on and facilitate cohesion among individuals and reflect a concerted e;ffort by community members tofind shared solutions to social conflict. Furthermore, these methods of resource distribution and conjlict resolution o.tten require or make use 0.( capacities for empathy, .\ympathy, (md sometimes even community concern. Non-human primates in societies in which such mechanisms are present may not he exactly moral heings, hut they do show signs o( a sense of social regularity that - just like the norms and rules underlying human moral conduct - promotes a mutually sati4'actory modus vivendi.
