Moral Origins: The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame

“[An] engrossing work…. Boehm does a remarkable job of extending previous work and incorporating a historical approach.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review

“[A] provocative scientific contribution…to the millennia-long discussion about the nature of morality…. Thinkers everywhere will be forced–as they are in many arenas–to consider biology in realms that once seemed strictly matters of the heart and soul.”–Michael Shermer, Wall Street Journal

“Astronomers have the Hubble telescope to look back through time, and social scientists have Chris Boehm. Boehm’s monumental accomplishment is to give us the most careful and compelling portrait ever created of how our ancestors lived, from three hundred thousand generations ago to five hundred generations ago. Boehm’s work is vital for understanding why we are so tribal, punitive, gossipy, religious, and cooperative today.”–Jonathan Haidt, professor of psychology, University of Virginia, and author of The Righteous Mind

“Christopher Boehm’s Moral Origins is a tour de force of a sort rarely seen in any science.”–Donald Black, university professor of the social sciences, University of Virginia, and author of Moral Time

“Few scientists have thought longer and harder about the origins of morality than Christopher Boehm, who brings to the issue a wealth of experience studying both humans and other animals. His thesis that our species has taken moral evolution into its own hands is new and refreshing.”–Frans de Waal, author of The Age of Empathy

“How did evolution produce a species that blushes? To explain the uniquely human moral sense, Boehm teases a provocative neo-Darwinian theory out of cutting-edge archaeological, anthropological, and psychological research…. Those looking for a daring new application of empirical science will find it here.”–Booklist

“In Moral Origins, Christopher Boehm uses his vast knowledge of the literature on primates and human hunter-gather populations to address the issue of the origins of human morality. It is a must-read for any social scientist, primatologist, or humanist studying human morality. Equally important, it is beautifully written in an easy and graceful style. Certainly the most informed and best work written by an anthropologist on this set of issues, Moral Origins is a book that I would recommend to any thoughtful person.”–Jonathan Turner, distinguished professor of sociology, University of California, Riverside

“One rarely finds such a fully Darwinian, scientifically sound, and wisely accessible book for both professionals and lay audiences as Boehm’s study of moral origins; it is far superior to any previous attempts to discuss the subject.”–Choice

“What sets Boehm’s approach apart is his effort ‘to make the natural history of moral origins more historical’. In so doing he provides a new and coherent map of the evolution of morality…. It is a complex story…, but Boehm’s experience doing fieldwork with humans and wild chimps makes him a wonderfully knowledgeable guide. And some of his ideas are truly revolutionary.”–New Scientist