How selfish genes shape moral passions

Genes are 'selfish' in that they make organisms whose behaviours are shaped , necessarily, to benefit their genes. But altruism and selfishness as we u sually think of them have little to do with 'evolutionary altruism' and 'ev olutionary selfishness', and the use of these phrases has given rise to muc h confusion. The most pernicious is the false conclusion that individual al truism is impossible unless it has been shaped by group selection. In fact, human altruism and morality are shaped by genes because individuals with t hese capacities have a fitness advantage. The advantage may come from sexua l selection, social selection, or the advantages of a capacity for commitme nt, as well as from cooperation, and kin selection. Ironically, morality ma y be a metaphor so powerful that it inhibits careful thinking precisely bec ause our brains are wired by natural selection to see the world in terms of good and evil.