ABSTRACT
In the immediate a ermath of Darwin’s work, the idea that the theory of evolution had ethical consequences became quite widespread. Perhaps what makes this idea appealing is the popular notion that the theory of evolution in some way displaces or supplants religion. Religion is, a er all, o en seen as the source of moral teachings. If the theory of evolution signi cantly weakens the case for religious beliefs then, it might be thought, it had better generate moral teachings of its own. e alternative might be to be le with no moral teachings at all. However, there are a great many philosophers who think that ethics does not in any way depend on religion for its justi cation. Many of the early attempts to derive ethical consequences from evolution seem, from today’s perspective, misguided. But the idea that we can learn something about ethics from evolution has not gone away.
