Mizzoni, J. (2010). Genic Selection and Utilitarian Ethics. Philosophical Frontiers, 5, 1, 109-128.

Do standard ethical concepts and principles make sense when placed on an evolutionary foundation? In inquiring into what evolution implies about ethics we must first be clear about what we mean by ethics. Do we mean metaethics? If so, which variety? Do we mean normative ethics? If so, which variety? We must also be clear about what we mean by evolution. Do we mean Darwinian selection or genic selection? Inquiring into what evolution implies about ethics is thus a much larger project than many theorists take it to be. In order to begin to determine whether standard ethical concepts and principles make sense from an evolutionary perspective, in this paper I limit my discussion to one normative ethical theory, utilitarianism, and two models of evolution, Darwinian natural selection and genic selection...