The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code

McCullough, Michael E.

ISBN 10: 0465064744 / ISBN 13: 9780465064748

Published by Basic Books, 2020

About this Item

Light wear to dust jacket. Open Books is a nonprofit social venture that provides literacy experiences for thousands of readers each year through inspiring programs and creative capitalization of books.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465064744
• ISBN 13: 9780465064748
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis

"A fine achievement."--Peter Singer, author of The Life You Can Save and The Most Good You Can Do




A sweeping psychological history of human goodness -- from the foundations of evolution to the modern political and social challenges humanity is now facing.






How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? Since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael E. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior. As McCullough argues, these choices weren't enabled by an evolved moral sense, but with moral invention -- driven not by evolution's dictates but by reason.

Today's challenges -- climate change, mass migration, nationalism -- are some of humanity's greatest yet. In revealing how past crises shaped the foundations of human concern, The Kindness of Strangers offers clues for how we can adapt our moral thinking to survive these challenges as well.

About the Author

Michael McCullough is a professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego. The winner of numerous distinctions for his research and writing, he is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He lives in La Jolla, California.