This program will investigate the relationship between philosophical ethics and evolutionary biology. In winter quarter we will further develop our understanding of evolutionary theory and of ethics. Central questions for winter quarter will include: Is the imperative of evolutionary fitness, defined as individual reproductive success, consistent with ethical behavior? Has our evolutionary history as social animals given us an intrinsic sense of moral concern for others? What, if any, are our ethical obligations to near and distant others, to family and to strangers, to other species, and to ecosystems and global ecology? In that context, we’ll develop an understanding of the ways in which ethics can be consistent with a naturalistic conception of the world and an understanding of the fundamental biological processes of life and of the evolution, diversity, and relationships among different forms of life on Earth.