The Evolution of Altruism: The Sober/Wilson Model*

Evolution, altruism and cognitive architecture: a critique of Sober and Wilson’s argument for psychological altruism

Sober and Wilson have propose a cluster of arguments for the conclusion that ‘‘natural selection is unlikely to have given us purely egoistic motives’’ and thus that psychological altruism is true. I maintain that none of these arguments is convincing. However, the most powerful of their arguments raises deep issues about what egoists and altruists are claiming and about the assumptions they ma...

Relational Desires and Empirical Evidence against Psychological Egoism

Roughly, psychological egoism is the thesis that all of a person's intentional actions are ultimately self-interested in some sense; psychological altruism is the thesis that some people's intentional actions are ultimately otherregarding in some sense. C. Daniel Batson and other social psychologists have argued that there are experiments that provide support for a theory called the ―empathy-al...

A Mathematical Model for Altruism in Haystacks.

Work ( s ) : Unto Others : The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior

Kin selection is the key to altruism.

Kin selection theory, also known as inclusive fitness theory, has been the subject of much debate and misunderstanding. Nevertheless, the idea that relatedness among individuals can drive the evolution of altruism has emerged as a central paradigm in evolutionary biology. Or has it? In two recent articles, E.O. Wilson argues that kin selection should no longer be considered the main explanation...