• The Moral Arc

  • How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom
  • By: Michael Shermer
  • Narrated by: Michael Shermer, Melody Zownir
  • Length: 19 hrs and 54 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (426 ratings)

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The Moral Arc  By  cover art

The Moral Arc

By: Michael Shermer
Narrated by: Michael Shermer, Melody Zownir
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Publisher's summary

We are living in the most moral period of our species’ history. Best-selling author Michael Shermer’s most accomplished and ambitious book to date demonstrates how the scientific way of thinking has made people, and society as a whole, more moral. Ever since the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment thinkers consciously applied the methods of science to solve social and moral problems. The experimental methods and analytical reasoning of science created the modern world of liberal democracies, civil rights and civil liberties, equal justice under the law, open political and economic borders, free minds and free markets, and prosperity the likes of which no human society in history has ever enjoyed. More people in more places have greater rights, freedoms, liberties, literacy, education, and prosperity - the likes of which no human society in history has ever enjoyed. In this provocative and compelling book - that includes brief histories of freedom rights, women’s rights, gay rights, and animal rights, along with considerations of the nature of evil and moral regress - Shermer explains how abstract reasoning, rationality, empiricism, skepticism - scientific ways of thinking - have profoundly changed the way we perceive morality and, indeed, move us ever closer to a more just world.

©2015 Michael Shermer (P)2015 Michael Shermer

Critic reviews

“...It’s an honest, clear account of morality and justice that makes those theoretical concepts come alive as ubiquitous real-life choices.” (Jared Diamond, Pulitzer-prize-winning author of the best-selling books Guns, Germs, and Steel, Collapse, and The World Until Yesterday)
“A thrilling and fascinating book, which could change your view of human history and human destiny.” (Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University)
“Science can’t, by itself, tell you right from wrong. But there’s no better tool for the purpose than the style of moral philosophy that’s inspired by science, and Michael Shermer is a master of that style.” (Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion)

What listeners say about The Moral Arc

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Us is getting bigger, them is getting smaller

This book tries to fill in some of the whys in Steven Pinker's book "Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence has Declined". The author starts off by defining morality as the "flourishing and surviving of sentient beings". It's not a perfect definition but in general the listener can latch on to it.

The author does go beyond Pinker's book and tries to fill in more of the reasons why violence has declined by looking at the facts from a morality point of view. Shermer knows it is more profitable to realize that man is the measure of all things and that our values are not etched in stone and aren't externally given to people, but are derived by people.

The continuous contextual approach (inductive) is almost always better than a binary, absolute approach (deductive). Using reason, science and observation can make us understand and appreciate the flourishing and surviving of others who aren't necessarily in our tribal group, be it kin, friend, community, or other self selected but always exclusionary group which divides 'us' from 'them' in some manner and leads to the widening of our moral sphere.

He looks at how our moral sphere is constantly becoming more inclusive. Slavery is the ultimate us against them. The realization of the wrongness of slavery and its abolition was a slow continuous process. For those who derive their values from external sources, the revealed religion sources just get it wrong on slavery. He considers in detail the widening of the moral sphere for less misogynistic attitudes towards women, the slow process of no longer making gays the other and even considers some of the issues in speciesism (the author is a specieist, as I am too, but I understand the issues).

It's hard for me not to fully embrace a book were I admire an author as much as I admire Michael Shermer, I read his articles frequently, I love his debates on the internet, he quotes accurately from Gene Rodenberry and Star Trek, he seems to love the same episodes of Twilight Zone that I do, and he quotes Michio Kaku extensively and other such things that I love too.

But, he doesn't stick to the narrative and falls off the track. For example, I am not sure why he uses Piketty and his "Capital in the 21st Century" to try to refute Piketty's own thesis. Inequalities are real in the world (and within America) and have been getting worse. He seems to think corporations aren't a threat to moral development and represent moral good. For me, corporations are not people, and can be a force of bad. He had a lot of things like that in this book which only gets in the way of his own thesis.

It's a minor thing, but I can't help myself. The author says "Alan Turing is agruably the most important man for the Allied's victory in WW II". Alan Turing is a hero of mine, but I don't think that statement is defensible. Betchley Park was a cooperative, and the Polish Mathematicians (God Bless the Poles!), cracked the enigma code first. For a marvelous audible book on the subject read, "Seizing the Enigma". Also, he states "most people agree that for WW I both sides are to blame". I would strongly recommend Max Hasting's recent book, "Catastrophe 1914" for a refutation of that statement.

I would say, Pinker's book, "Better Angels of our Nature" is my favorite book. It opened my eyes to how the world has improved since the dawn of time and how our moral sphere keeps getting wider (less of us against them and more of us). Most of what is good in Shermer's book is in Pinker's book. I realize Pinker's book is very technical. This book is not. Even though the author does ramble (much like this book review!), this book is a fine substitute for Pinker's book for those who don't love sets of tables, long historical reviews, an author who keeps on his narrative and summaries of scientific papers.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful but questionable data and thesis

Thoughtful but questionable data and thesis.
A collection of studies and subjective conclusions. Conclusions do not take into account that the "current moral arc" is the result of countervailing force and threats of violence. The author appears oblivious to his personal cherry picking. Take a closer look at reality.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Overall a very good book

I knew he was a libertarian going in, but as a scientist he brought in his "near disgust" of liberals a bit too much, and then his economic analysis at the end seemed to be narrowed down to disproving anything that didn't have a libertarian bent. Ironically he seemed to have renounced his belief in some things conservative to get to where he was "morally" using the scientific method then used a bias to protect his economic principles from scrutiny. Of my moderate to liberal bias is affecting my ideas, it's just that after reading many books on economics recently it seems like he made short shrift of economic disparity. In six paragraphs he "destroyed" Thomas Piketty. While Shermer may be right it does seem like he was "a little" skimpy on his rebuttal, especially the analysis of what people think the disparity is. That seemed very suspect as a scientific justification for there not really being disparity. It was very extraneous at least for as much weight as it got in his argument. ... The narration was fair. I got used to their voices. The female narrator was very good, but I was confused about who was talking, was she him when i thought she was him, or was she quoting someone else?

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Why Not Just Stick to The Science

Shermer goes out of his way to fill in the spaces with his own rabid hatred for religion, especially Christianity. If Shermer wants to be a scientist then stick to science. This extraordinary and often childish perception of various religious notions is meaningless hyperbole and distracts from the science that Shermer is claiming to want to support.

Science is knowledge of the world as we are learning to understand it. Religion is a choice of beliefs that humans select for many reasons. The two shouldn't be spending any real time together in arguments. Shermer should stick to science and stop whining about religion, it's distracting and unnecessary.

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Very fascinating and pleasantly optimistic

Very fascinating book. Lots of interesting data about how we are genetically programmed with some basic morals.

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Outstanding!

Shermer's commanding erudition successfully defends his thesis by artfully weaving common threads of moral evolution through multiple disciplines. Shermer picks up in an outstanding fashion where Steven Pinker left off in Better Angels of Our Nature. My only critique would be that Shermer does not integrate or touch upon Sam Harris' arguments or propositions outlined in The Moral Landscape, or at least not in any conspicuous way. In any case, I highly highly recommend this book. Outstanding.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful but with some flaws

Shermer presents a survey of moral attitudes over time arguing, quite convincingly, that morals are improving with time and scientific advancement. There are chapters focusing on different topic areas tied together under the theme of a moral arc. While generally convincing to this listener, there are some flaws in his conclusions. For example, in the chapter on animal rights, the value of these magnificent sentient beings is laid out and the horror of factory farms pointed out. His conclusion, buy meat from local farms. As if that makes much of a difference to the exploited and killed animals. Shermer is behind the moral arc in that case.

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    5 out of 5 stars

The arc not only bends towards justice but it contributes light.

Enjoyable, informing and entertaining throughout. Will reinforce and elucidate many of the ideas you have been exposed, questioned or were curious about as well many you never heard.
A learning experience to be remembered and passed to others.

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Great listen!

Great audio book, wish Shermer had more audio though. This audio book is split between him and a woman/AI sounding Cortana reading the book.

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Delighted!!

This was a fantastic and enlightening read! It really gave me confidence that, despite the news, Earth is improving in regards to violence.

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