Posted by rpcman on May 21, 1999 at 10:30:33:
In Reply to: try... posted by rpcman on May 21, 1999 at 00:29:11:
From a different angle on the same issue, check out these two books for a look at the incredible similarities between our feelings and emotions and those of our closest living non-human relatives. (Your Catholic friend may feel less threatened by the latter book as it is written by a Christian.) You may also want to see what Darwin himself wrote on a somewhat related subject.
In a nutshell, I think you will find your answer in the fact that species which don't produce a large number of offspring on a per animal basis need to find other means to insure species survival. For primates this has resulted in close family and community ties which are largely led by emotions like love and behavior that is more or less ethical (with respect to close family and community at least)--the survival of closely related genes being the key to Darwinism after all.