Do animals have morality?

Do animals have morality? In the latest posting on the Jericho Tree, Sr Margaret Atkins writes:

Christians and biologists have often, mistakenly, seen themselves as rivals. Both have argued as if there is a choice between science or religion: biology or revelation as sources of knowledge; evolution or God as explanations of our existence; ecology or salvation as giving meaning to our history; concern for animals or concern for humans as generating values; biological or spiritual descriptions as accounts of ourselves. However, as is often the case, the Catholic position on this is characterised by ‘and’, not ‘or’. We need reason and faith; divine, primary, and created, secondary causes; natural and religious history; green ideals and humanitarian ones; and an understanding of human beings, of ourselves, as intelligent animals who are also capax Dei, open to God.

I have just finished an excellent book by Dale Peterson called The Moral Lives of Animals (Bloomsbury Press 2011). Its thesis is straightforward: through Darwinian natural selection, a wide range of animals (including birds and reptiles) have evolved lives that are socially cooperative in structured but flexible ways, ways that bear such close resemblance to human morality that they deserve to be called ‘moral’. Peterson illustrates the thesis with a wealth of fascinating and compelling details. He also organises the book in an intriguing way, relating his topics to the Ten Commandments.

To read on see: http://jerichotree.com/2014/05/29/animals-morality/