Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
From Biology To Consciousness To Morality, Ursula Goodenough, Terrence W. Deacon
From Biology To Consciousness To Morality, Ursula Goodenough, Terrence W. Deacon
Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations
Social animals are provisioned with prosocial orientations that operate to transcend self-interest. Morality, as used here, describes human versions of such orientations. We explore the evolutionary antecedents of morality in the context of emergentism, giving considerable attention to the biological traits that undergird awareness and our emergent human forms of mind. We suggest that our moral frames of mind emerge from our primate prosocial capacities, transfigured and valenced by our symbolic languages, cultures, and religions.
Portions of this article were given by Deacon in a paper at the forty-ninth annual conference of IRAS, “Is Nature Enough? The Thirst for …
The Capacity To Form H-Dna Cannot Substitute For Gaga Factor Binding To A (Ct)N*(Ga)N Regulatory Site, Quinn Lu, John Teare, Howard Granok, Marci Swede, Jenny Xu, Sarah C.R. Elgin
The Capacity To Form H-Dna Cannot Substitute For Gaga Factor Binding To A (Ct)N*(Ga)N Regulatory Site, Quinn Lu, John Teare, Howard Granok, Marci Swede, Jenny Xu, Sarah C.R. Elgin
Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations
Previous studies of the Drosophila melanogaster hsp26 gene promoter have demonstrated the importance of a homopurine*homopyrimidine segment [primarily (CT)n*(GA)n] for chromatin structure formation and gene activation. (CT)n regions are known to bind GAGA factor, a dominant enhancer of PEV thought to play a role in generating an accessible chromatin structure. The (CT)n region can also form an H-DNA structure in vitro under acidic pH and negative supercoiling; a detailed map of that structure is reported here. To test whether the (CT)n sequence can function through H-DNA in vivo, we have analyzed a series of hsp26-lacZ transgenes with altered sequences in …
Religious Naturalism And Naturalizing Morality, Ursula Goodenough
Religious Naturalism And Naturalizing Morality, Ursula Goodenough
Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations
I first offer some reflections on the term religious naturalism. I then outline how moral thought might be configured in the context of religious naturalism. It is proposed that the goal of morality is to generate a flourishing community and that humans negotiate their social interactions using moral capacities that are cultivated in the context of culture. Six such capacities are considered: strategic reciprocity, humaneness, fair–mindedness, courage, reverence, and mindfulness. Moral capacities are contrasted with moral susceptibilities, fueled by self–interest, and brought to the fore in times of stress and humiliation. The essay is in two parts. I first respond …