…and a different set of problems ensue.  Philosophers will cringe when Gintis writes:

It is refreshing indeed to find a moral philosopher capable of
expressing such elementary, yet widely ignored truths as "our moral
beliefs are simultaneously relative to our evolutionary history and our
cultural background, but at the same time objectively true" (p. 291).
Why objectively true? Because our moral beliefs are just as much a
material force in the world as our capacity to metabolize nutrients,
and truth in this case means exists.

One hopes that this was not Professor Alexander’s preferred explanation of the point.

Let me record, however, my high regard for Gintis, even if he seems a tad muddled about philosophical matters.  Bowles and Gintis on Schooling in Capitalist America is still a brilliant piece of work.   (There is a nice overview of the book here.)