道德动物

by [美]罗伯特·赖特（Robert Wright）

《道德动物》是《纽约时报》年度最佳图书之一，也是最振奋人心的、真正重要的科学读物之一，迄今为止已被译成20余种文字。《道德动物》以达尔文的生平及其作品为脉络，从一些非常有趣的社会问题出发，逐步深入到人类进化的生物学基础。在呈现进化心理学的研究进展和发现的同时，罗伯特·赖特揭开了那些塑造了我们的爱情选择、家庭体验、友谊和政治责任的无意识策略。在更深的层面，这本书促使我们重新思考那些最基本的道德预设，对我们的公共政策和日常行为具有深远的影响。比如，人类的一夫一妻制不只是法律的规定，这种制度还有着深刻的生物进化的渊源。再如，同胞手足之间为了得到父母关爱而进行的竞争其根源在哪里？为什么父母对自己的子女也会有所偏爱？自欺欺人的生物学根源是什么？本书对这些问题都有着详尽的分析，从进化的角度审视了人类的情感、友谊和竞争、攻击等心理或行为，对人类基于基本的道德假定的日常行为及其动机进行了再思索。

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Animals

Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

Reviews

[Niki (nikilovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Captain Kidd's life and death told from the perspective of his cat, McDermot. The tale is rather a sad one with Kidd being betrayed by everyone he believed he could trust.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Captain Kidd - he was set up. In this telling of the story by McDermot the cat, Kidd is a likable guffin who trusts all the wrong people and end up at Tyburn with a rope around his neck as a result. The good news in this sad story is that McDermot lives happily after. Lawson's pen and ink illustrations are marvelous. As a child I used to stare entranced at the color cover which showed McDermot's pierced ear with its ruby ring. Today I look instead at Moko and Koko, the African innkeepers, as they defend McDermot from an unscrupulous showman and I wince.

[Adelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took awhile to read, only because I was reading it to the boys as our night time book, and life got very busy.

I don’t know that the kids understood half of what was going on, but it was fun for me to learn more about Captain Kidd, at least from a cat’s perspective. We took a trip to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, and discovered they have a small display of relics from a sunken ship believed to be Captain Kidd’s - I felt more knowledgeable having been reading this book.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very entertaining read. I recommend it to the readers of all ages.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not as pleasant a read as Mr. Lawson's two other animal-perspective biographies but still remains quite a fun read-aloud story with the family. The vocabulary is expansive!

[Lance Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in middle school. Bought it from the school library for $.25. I've read it so many times and am still able to get lost in the adventure. If you love books such as Ben & Me, you'll adore this amazing book. It brings back so many childhood memories for me.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My parents bought this book for me when I was a kid, and I saved it to share with my own.

I do have to confess that this book has made me fantasize about piercing my cats' ears for the last 30years =P