Review of Christopher Boehm, Moral Origins:  The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame (Basic Books, 2012)

Humanism asserts that human beings are naturally capable of caring about others and taking action to help others, even those who are not like themselves.   One only has to notice the worldwide response after Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines to be convinced of the truth of that assertion.   But despite humanists’ celebration of Charles Darwin…