ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The study of the neural basis of social behavior is fairly recent. There are probably two major factors that have biased previous neuroscience research toward the study of human behavior that is not intrinsically social. The rst one is obviously that social behavior is perceived as very complex, and its complexity very dif- cult to reduce to the point that the phenomenon is experimentally tractable with neuroscience methods. The second one is more insidious. I think that a latent, hidden dualism has favored the view that biological determinism may be at the basis of self-serving individualism, whereas prosocial behavior may be explained by assuming that our intellect makes us rise above our neurobiological makeup. In this chapter I will argue, in contrast, that recent neuroscience ndings suggest that the evolutionary process has shaped neurobiological systems that make us predisposed to social behavior and that in principle could even account for a secular morality.
