Abstract

In response to the idea that morality originated when subordinate members of groups banded together to constrain more dominant members, I argue that a more general function of morality is to uphold systems of cooperative exchange ever threatened by the temptation to contribute less than one's share and to take more than one's share. Humans inherit biologically-evolved dispositions to behave morally, that is to say to uphold systems of cooperation, and to behave immorally, that is to say to exploit the systems of cooperation from which they benefit. We are as moral as we need to be to reap the benefits of cooperation