We See in a Glass Darkly: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Virtue and Vice beyond the Species Boundary <!--EndFragment-->

This article argues that a close analysis of animal ethology enables a richer understanding of humanity’s basic tendencies for good or ill, expressed in the twin concepts of virtues and vices. Human morality is not added on to an otherwise brutish nature, rather, it has co-evolved with other animal species, many of whom have sophisticated social lives and associated rules for that behavior. By way of illustration, fairness/justice and deception/lying are considered as just two key examples of virtue and vice, which illuminate the distinctiveness yet commonality between humans and other animal species. The article also discusses both the risks and benefits of anthropomorphizing to try to understand animal behavior alongside the philosophical issues that arise when doing so.