Book recommendation: Inventing good and bad

In his book published by Piper Verlag, the German philosopher traces the history of our morals. It proceeds from the emergence of human cooperation 5 million years ago, to the most recent crises of moral polarization. It describes the processes of biological, cultural, and historical evolution that have shaped the ethical rules that define our present.

At the beginning of his book, the author explains: “The history of ethics is not a history of moral philosophy. The Sermon on the Mount, Kant’s categorical determinism play a role in my story, but they are relatively minor.”

And one more thing up front: anyone who traditionally sees morals as the customs and habits of superior morality—be it religious or philosophical—would be unhappy with Hanno Sawyer’s portrayal. Instead, the author describes ethics as a system of norms that develop in human societies. He is even more true with Sawyer that morality should be understood as a “revolution in the development” of man. Hence his thesis is that without evolutionary ethics there would be no “social people”, only violently predisposed people. Here you can see how Hanno Sauer was inspired by another German philosopher, Hannah Arendt’s theory of the “banality of evil”.

About the content: Hanno Sauer does not go into concrete, terrible historical events in order to explain the evolution of morality. Because for him it is a mortal suffering on mankind’s long path to a morally superior race. Instead, he is interested in a “song of praise to evolution.” The philosopher is undoubtedly optimistic. This makes for interesting reading, especially since it will be easier to lean into pessimism. In conclusion, it can be said that it depends on the “moral mood” of the reader whether he wants to take a path steeped in “moral development” with Hanno Sauer.

Mario Galgano review.

To take notes: Hanno Sauer. Ethics – the invention of good and bad. Published by Piper-Verlag in 2023 at a cost of €26.

(Vatican News)