George Wilson The Moral Sense

Wilson in “The Moral Sense,” describes the moral sense as a universal aspiration of human kind, the foundation of our societies. Throughout his book, Wilson delves into the reasoning behind his logical conclusion about universal principles. Machiavelli, Aristotle, and Wilson all have distinct views on society that are arguably defined either as modern or ancient in the way that they are written and researched. We are interconnected to other humans; we are all creature of self-interest who achieve our fundamental needs using the universal idea of community. This idea of universal need for a community is the foundation for Wilson’s writing, in which he argues that we are the product of culture and adaptation, yet even so, throughout every culture there is some form of the family institution and a socially connected structured society. We all have a consensus on what fairness is, however, the definition we used is widely varied in a multitude of individuals across different cultures.

Wilson defines

Wilson present this idea and explains that while this is true, everyone’s actual definition of fairness varies and is something that differs across cultures. As oppose to Aristotle, Wilson argues the basis of a successful society is not the solely the betterment of a community through the fulfillment of telos, but the creating a society through the interconnectedness of individuals, which in turn leads to a better society. Wilson’s text supports the belief that there’s indisputably a better chance for those with more sociable behavior and ability to problem solve were, and still are, more likely to survive. Through natural selection those with the inability to successfully reproduce, whether it be bad parenting or ineffective biology, could not pass down their genetic traits and therefore sociability was vital for our ancestors’