The Atlantic has put Edward O. Wilson's article on the biological basis of morality online. It's one I'd like to get into, and also maybe comment on hilzoy's comments, when I've had a chance to read them. Maybe later this week. (I still have a review of Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces to finish.) It will be interesting to look at a controversy between two thinkers I admire.
(Just a wild guess, since I haven't looked at either article yet, but I'm betting that Wilson's comments hinge on the idea of behavior as not only adaptive, but heritable, which is really the foundational concept I got from Sociobiology. We'll see.)
But there's a little light reading for you.
Update: OK -- you really want to tie your brain in knots? Try reading Edward O. Wilson and Joseph W. Campbell in tandem, and keeping them straight.
Why do I do these things to myself?
Update II: Andrew Sullivan ;quotes hilzoy under the title "Hilzoy Gets Pissy." I think that's accurate. (Actually, looking at that quote again, it's odd that hilzoy would identify Wilson as an expert on insects -- which he is -- rather than the creator of sociobiology.)
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