{"product_id":"beyond-bad-how-obsolete-morals-are-holding-us-back-9781529327090","title":"Beyond Bad: How obsolete morals are holding us","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Vital reading' - THE TIMES\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Brilliantly unillusioned thinking...  It could hardly be more necessary in these all-too-moralistic times' - James Marriott, THE TIMES\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMorals have held empires together, kept soldiers marching under fire, fed the hungry, passed laws, built walls, welcomed immigrants, destroyed careers and governed our sex lives.  But what if morality's all meaningless rubbish, a malfunctioning relic of our evolutionary past? \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is the provocative argument that Chris Paley makes. This isn't an attack on one set of moral codes or one way of thinking about ethics: it's a call for abolishing the whole caboodle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe uses evolutionary psychology to show how and why morality emerged: they\u003cbr\u003eenabled our forebears to survive and prosper in tribal groups. Today, our morals constrain us, bias us, and push us in the wrong direction. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe biggest challenges our species faces, whether global warming, nuclear proliferation or the rise of the robots, are pan-human. These challenges are beyond what our moral minds were designed to cope with. You can't build smartphones with stone-age axes, and you can't solve modern humanity's problems with tools that are designed to create primitive, competitive groups.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom Chris Paley, author of the 'extraordinary', 'startling' and 'thought-provoking' \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eUnthink\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, comes \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBeyond Bad\u003c\/b\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e which shows morals hinder us from achieving what we want to achieve.  \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBeyond Bad\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e is the book that 'does for morals what Dawkins did for God'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eI love the prose\u003c\/b\u003e.  I wish more scientists wrote like this...  Paley thinks that in the modern world our moral certainty is not only misguided but dangerous. After reading his book, so do I...  The book is distinguished by its author's \u003cb\u003ebrilliantly unillusioned thinking\u003c\/b\u003e. For me his basic argument is \u003cb\u003eirrefutable\u003c\/b\u003e. It could hardly be more \u003cb\u003enecessary in these all-too-moralistic times\u003c\/b\u003e.' * James Marriott, THE TIMES *\u003cbr\u003eHold your breath! If you believe that moral values are the foundations of humanity, you are fundamentally wrong. In his \u003cb\u003eexciting and exceptionally well written\u003c\/b\u003e book, Chris Paley will convince you about the many downsides of morality. It is a challenge, but \u003cb\u003ehighly recommended\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Fritz Strack, Professor Emeritus, University of Würzburg\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTruly thought-provoking\u003c\/b\u003e. Paley puts forth an \u003cb\u003eastonishingly original\u003c\/b\u003e hypothesis and defends it eloquently, marshalling cutting-edge science to argue against the very idea of morality. -- Kurt Gray, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill\u003cbr\u003eThere is \u003cb\u003ea serious challenge here to received ways of thinking\u003c\/b\u003e for the lay public and professional moral philosophers alike. -- John P Burgess, John N Woodhull Professor of Philosophy, Princeton University\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaley has a gift\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003efor distilling and illuminating the implications of science\u003c\/b\u003e reminiscent of Richard Dawkins. Many of the \u003cb\u003einsights he describes will startle\u003c\/b\u003e but, in this era of political polarisation, we all need to explore how our ethical minds work -- Paul Bingham, Associate Professor, Stony Brook University, and co-author of Death from a Distance and the Birth of a Humane Universe\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003efun\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003efascinating\u003c\/b\u003e journey through the \u003cb\u003esurprising\u003c\/b\u003e world of human morality. -- Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling\u003cbr\u003eOne to watch' and '\u003cb\u003ehard to ignore\u003c\/b\u003e -- The Bookseller\u003cbr\u003eOf Unthink: 'an \u003cb\u003eextraordinary thought-provoking\u003c\/b\u003e book... quite \u003cb\u003estartling\u003c\/b\u003e. It is a book \u003cb\u003ewell worth reading\u003c\/b\u003e... I look forward to reading his next one on \"Freedom and Moral Choices\" -- Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor\u003cbr\u003eA groundbreaking study of how human morality itself is at the root of much of our modern woes. -- Neil Mackay * THE HERALD *","brand":"Hodder \u0026 Stoughton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48740183998807,"sku":"9781529327090","price":16.14,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781529327090.jpg?v=1720054077","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/beyond-bad-how-obsolete-morals-are-holding-us-back-9781529327090","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}