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The Structural Evolution of Morality , Jason McKenzie Alexander. Cambridge University Press, 2007, ix + 300 pages.

This book draws together and expands upon Jason McKenzie Alexander’s previously published work using evolutionary game theory. His central claim is that our moral principles act as heuristic devices which tend to maximize our expected utility over a lifetime. The models he presents aim to demonstrate that a range of simple moral principles often emerge as the victors over other strategies in a process of cultural evolution. What is relatively novel about Alexander’s modelling, compared with the present philosophical literature, is that it takes seriously the fact that we interact with each other in a structured environment with non-random interactions. Another philosopher notable for making moves in this direction is Brian Skyrms and this book is certainly a must-read for anyone who has been enthused by his recent collections of evolutionary modelling (Skyrms, 2004). Skyrms’ works have raised philosophical concerns for some, which The Structural Evolution of Morality makes efforts to address. Before considering these concerns I will outline the book’s structure and highlight, by way of example, some results that I found particularly novel or thought provoking. The majority of the text is devoted to modelling four game types using each of four forms of social network. Each game is taken to represent a canonical type of moral dilemma: