"Morality" centrally refers to a set of beliefs and practices only attested in humans, ...
Morality does also apply to non-human organisms, for example close human relatives such as chimpanzees and why not alien life on other planets or future successors to humans?
... so any attempts to found morality in the behaviour of non human animals requires a translation stage.
Ethical fitnessism is not founded on the behaviour of non-human organisms. Please see the definition of ethical fitnessism in my original comment to DeVliegendeHollander.
No, they probably value something that can be cashed out in fitness promoting terms, like continued survival, or enhanced attractiveness based on resources.
Exactly!
Ethical fitnessism is more intuitive than any other established moral theory, since it is practiced more, not only by other animals, but by humans to, not only in prehistoric times, but in modern times as well.
You wonder why we need the fitness component, when we already have the contract component.
All contractarianism is necessarily based on self-interest. Traditional contractarianism is based on the self-interest of living humans. That is why it is criticised for disregarding future human generations and even other animals. Fitnessist contractarianism is based on the Darwinian self-interest, which is the intrinsic value of ethical fitnessism. Therefore it does not disregard future generations.
Ethics per se does not have any function.
I find that hard to understand. The practices of ethics reduces wasteful conflict, and allows people to satisfy their preferences.
Of course the practice of ethics has a function! But ethics per se does not; it gives a purpose.
Morality" centrally refers to a set of beliefs and practices only attested in humans,
...Morality does also apply to non-human organisms, for example close human relatives such as chimpanzees and why not alien life on other planets or future successors to humans?
A) centrally=/= only.
B) You are blurring the distinction between moral agents and moral patients.
Ethical fitnessism is not founded on the behaviour of non-human organisms.
So why did you bring in the example of the predator?
...No, [muggers] probably value something that can be cashed
I noticed that there has been some earlier discussion about Sam Harris’s Moral Landscape Challenge here at LW. As a writer on the Swedish politico-philosophical blog The Inverted Fable of Reality, I would like to share a response to the challenge, written by our main contributor, which I believe is interesting to read even if you are not familiar with The Moral Landscape or its content. See this link for the response and a short explanation of the challenge.
The response takes a different approach to most responses to the challenge. It is divided into four parts and starts by asking which ethic is most compatible with science and reality and finally tries to answer this question.