Many atheists seem to think that evolutionary biology can answer
moral questions and, in this way, defeat the theists' claims
that moral goodness requires God. Yet, their arguments hit very
wide of the target. It would not be unfair to say that they do
nit understand the question. For example, one claim is that
evolutionary forces can select for altruistic behavior - it can
code for self-sacrifice. One specific form of altruism with an
apparent evolutionary explanation us kin-selection, such as the
sacrifice of a patent for a child. Organisms with this trait
have more children which grow to adulthood and have yet another
generation of children. So, evolution can provide at least a
partial explanation for altruism. But why us altruism good? This
is the question that I want the evolutionary biologist to
answer: What makes altruism a virtue? How can altruism itself be
a virtue without a God to give it that quality? The objection
states that, without God, anything can be a virtue. For example,
a person who does n