de_Waal - Good Natured
Not satisfied with a society fashioned by uncoordinated individual efforts, one of humanity’s chief accomplishments is to translate egocentric community concerns into collective values. The desire for a modus vivendi fair to everyone may be regarded as an evolutionary outgrowth of the need to get along and cooperate, adding an ever-greater insight into the actions that contribute to or interfere with this objective. Our ancestors began to understand how to preserve peace and order - hence how to keep their group united against external threats - without sacrificing legitimate individual interests. They came to judge behavior that systematically undermined the social fabric as “wrong,” and behavior that made a community worthwhile to live in as “right. “ Increasingly, they began to keep an eye on each other to make sure that their society functioned in the way they wanted it to function. Conscious community concern is at the heart of human morality.