A conference titled “The Evolution of Morality: The Biology and Philosophy of Human Conscience” will be held in the idyllic location of Erice, Sicily, on June 17-22 2012. The speakers will be a highly interdisciplinary group of evolutionary biologists, ethologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers, and theologians, who speak a common theoretical language in addition to their disciplinary training. David Sloan Wilson speaks with the famed primatologist Frans DeWaal, one of the organizers, about the conference and what it means to approach the topic of morality from an evolutionary perspective.

David Sloan Wilson

David Sloan Wilson

 

David Sloan Wilson is SUNY Distinguished Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University. He applies evolutionary theory to all aspects of humanity in addition to the rest of life, both in his own research and as director of EvoS, a unique campus-wide evolutionary studies program that recently received NSF funding to expand into a nationwide consortium. His books include Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society, Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin’s Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives, and The Neighborhood Project: Using Evolution to Improve My City, One Block at a Time and Does Altruism Exist? Culture, Genes, and the Welfare of Others. .