Bending the Rules: The Flexibility of Absolutes in Modern Life

Bending the Rules: The Flexibility of Absolutes in Modern Life
ISBN-10
0199218986
ISBN-13
9780199218981
Series
Bending the Rules
Category
Social Science
Pages
288
Language
English
Published
2008-12-18
Publisher
OUP Oxford
Author
Robert A. Hinde

Description

Do-unto-others-as-you-would-have-them-do-unto-you. Who would disagree with this 'Golden Rule'? We regard it as the basis of an absolute and universal morality. And yet it is considered acceptable to kill the enemy in war; for a businessman to do the best for himself; for a lawyer to argue professionally for a position he would personally reject. Are the moral rules we live by more flexible than they seem at first sight?In Bending the Rules Robert Hinde does not follow the much-trodden path of philosophizing about what is right and just. Instead, he uses an approach grounded in the behavioural sciences to explore the nature of morality, what people actually do, what they believe to be right, and what values they hold, and how these positions came to be. Such a deeper understanding of morality, he argues, as a product of biological and cultural evolution, and changing with social environment, holds outhope that we can avoid disaster and steer society towards peace and equity in the twenty-first century.

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