Evolution Science and Ethics in the Third Millennium : Challenges and Choices for Humankind

Dealing with the ethical challenges of humankind at the turn of the twenty- rst
century, and safely guiding the human species through new subsequent stages of
biological evolution and adaptation and cultural development, requires rethink-
ing of our values and norms in a longer-term perspective and at the planetary
level. Therefore, this chapter starts by discussing the meaning of evolution and
presenting an overview of the major stages of the development of evolution
science—the Darwinian revolution, the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis, the
molecular-genetic revolution and the Second Darwinian Revolution. Next, the
two major developmental processes, the hominisation process and the moderni-
sation process, are addressed, which are considered by the authors to be of
pivotal importance for the future of human morality. Finally, by confronting the
hominisation and modernisation processes, this chapter sets the stage for
revealing the necessary changes in values and norms in view of adapting to
further progressing modernisation and evolving toward higher levels of hominisation.