?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Objective+Morality&rft.creator=Allott%2C+Robin&rft.subject=Sociobiology&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.description=An+objective+basis+for+morality+can+be+found+in+an+evolutionary+account+of+its+origin+and+development.+Morality+is+a+key+factor+in+the+success+of+human+groups+in+competition+or+co-existence+with+each+other.A+group's+moral+code+represents+an+increasingly+rational+pattern+of+behaviour+derived+from+the+collective+experience+of+the+group+handed+down+from+generation+to+generation.+Group+selection+is+a+controversial+idea+for+animal+evolution+but+it+is+inescapable+in+accounting+for+human+evolution+under+the+influence+of+language+and+the+accumulation+of+cultural+patterns.+Morality+has+an+objective+physiological+and+neurological+basis+in+so+far+as+it+exists+to+moderate+the+expression+of+the+array+of+genetically-derived+emotional+patterns.+Emotions+represent+the+combination+of+action+tendencies+(neural+motor+programs)+with+(physiologically-derived)+affective+concomitants.+The+relation+between+emotion%2C+empathy+and+morality+is+important.+Empathy+(a+special+form+of+perception+still+largely+unexplained)+has+a+key+role+both+in+the+formation+and+cohesion+of+human+groups+and+in+the+observance+within+groups+of+a+moral+code.+Ultimately+observance+of+moral+rules+depends+on+recognition+by+each+individual+of+an+integrating+purpose+in+his+life.+In+so+far+as+the+moral+code+is+directed+towards+achieving+this+integrating+purpose%2C+morality+for+the+individual+becomes+objective.+&rft.publisher=JAI+Press+Inc.&rft.date=1991&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3242%2F1%2Fmorality.htm&rft.identifier=++Allott%2C+Robin++(1991)+Objective+Morality.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3242%2F