European University Institute Library

Does altruism exist?, culture, genes, and the welfare of others, David Sloan Wilson

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 151-171) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Does altruism exist?

bibliography

1014381578

David Sloan Wilson

Foundational questions in science

culture, genes, and the welfare of others

David Sloan Wilson, one of the world's leading evolutionists, addresses a question that has puzzled philosophers, psychologists, and evolutionary biologists for centuries: Does altruism exist naturally among the Earth's creatures? The key to understanding the existence of altruism, Wilson argues, is by understanding the role it plays in the social organization of groups. Groups that function like organisms indubitably exist, and organisms evolved from groups. Evolutionists largely agree on how functionally organized groups evolve, ending decades of controversy, but the resolution casts altruism in a new light: altruism exists but shouldn't necessarily occupy center stage in our understanding of social behavior. After laying a general theoretical foundation, Wilson surveys altruism and group-level functional organization in our own species<U+0127> in religion, in economics, and in the rest of everyday life. He shows that altruism is not categorically good and can have pathological consequences. Finally, he shows how a social theory that goes beyond altruism by focusing on group function can help to improve the human condition in a practical sense.--, Provided by Publisher

Introduction : Altruism and evolution -- Groups that work -- How altrusim evolves -- Equivalence -- From nonhumans to humans -- Psychological altruism -- Altruism and religion -- Altruism and economics -- Altruism in everyday life -- Pathological altrusim -- Planetary altruism