Does Altruism Exist?

Culture, Genes, and the Welfare of Others

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Biological Sciences, Evolution, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Social Psychology, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Cover of the book Does Altruism Exist? by David Sloan Wilson, Yale University Press
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Author: David Sloan Wilson ISBN: 9780300206753
Publisher: Yale University Press Publication: March 1, 2015
Imprint: Yale University Press Language: English
Author: David Sloan Wilson
ISBN: 9780300206753
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication: March 1, 2015
Imprint: Yale University Press
Language: English
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—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.
 
Does Altruism Exist? puts old controversies to rest and will become the center of debate for decades to come.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
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—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.
 
Does Altruism Exist? puts old controversies to rest and will become the center of debate for decades to come.

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