Abstract
In this chapter I will develop some basic concepts concerning evolutionary biology that should be understood to consider bioethical issues at what I believe is an adequate level of complexity. In the next two chapters these concepts will be applied to consider issues in human evolution, behavior, and psychology. Much of what follows in later chapters concerns the nature of the defining characteristics of life: When does life begin, when is moral standing attained, when is one bound by rules of morality, and when is one justified in intervening in the natural stream of life events? Most of the issues to be considered involve sexual reproduction, the process by which a significant proportion of plants and animals propagate themselves. It has been demonstrated that many aspects of the social life of plant and animal species are related to traits that developed to further the reproductive success of organisms, and that these traits can only be understood within the context of the environmental pressures to which organisms must adapt in order to survive.
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© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Petrinovich, L. (1995). Basic Concepts. In: Human Evolution, Reproduction, and Morality. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1316-6_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1316-6_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-1318-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-1316-6
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