Shocking, isn’t it

From the New York Times:

Biologists argue that these and other social behaviors are the precursors of human morality. They further believe that if morality grew out of behavioral rules shaped by evolution, it is for biologists, not philosophers or theologians, to say what these rules are.

And in other news, rapists argue that it is for rapists to say what consent is, while thieves argue that it is for thieves to say what private property are.

Seriously, who falls for this idiocy? If morality “grew out of behavioral rules shaped by evolution”, how would that give biologists any more claim on defining those rules anyhow?

Even if the evolutionary biologists are correct about absolutely everything, they are still merely the products of evolution, not the directors of it. Their claim on it is no greater than anyone else’s. Adam Smith didn’t claim the right to set prices because he discovered the law of supply and demand, after all.