Wild Justice

Synonyms

Cooperation; Empathy; Fairness; Morality

Definitions

A suite of interrelated other-regarding behaviors that cultivate and regulate complex interactions within social groups, a book written by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce.

Introduction

Wild Justice was written by Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce and was published in 2009. In their book, the authors attempt to shed light on what it means for animals to have morality. To do so, they focus on three main key points: cooperation, empathy, and justice. The authors first define nonhuman animal morality as “a suite of interrelated other-regarding behaviors that cultivate and regulate complex interactions within social groups” (p. 7). Through the combination of these traits, Bekoff and Peirce suggest that morality is not unique to humans but is an evolved trait that is shared with other social mammals.

Cooperation

In examining the first key point, cooperation, the authors begin by stating that at first glance, evolution appears to be...