Origins of Altruism and Cooperation
This book is derived from a conference held at Washington University, March, 2009. Authors include academics from around the world and across multiple disciplines – anthropology, psychiatry, human evolution, biology, psychology, religion, philosophy
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Series Editor Louise Barrett
For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/5852
Robert W. Sussman · C. Robert Cloninger Editors
Origins of Altruism and Cooperation
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Editors Robert W. Sussman Department of Anthropology Washington University St. Louis, MO 63130, USA [email protected]
C. Robert Cloninger Department of Psychiatry Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, MO 63110, USA [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4419-9519-3 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-9520-9 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9520-9 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2011932917 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
We dedicate this book to Walter Goldschmidt who reminded us at the conference that: “You talk about cooperation and altruism, but what you really mean is LOVE. We shouldn’t be afraid to use the word LOVE. That is what makes us truly human.”
Preface
This book is derived from a conference entitled “Man the Hunted and the Origin and Nature of Human Sociality, Altruism and Well-Being” held at Washington University, March, 2009. Authors include academics from around the world and across multiple disciplines—anthropology, psychiatry, human evolution, biology, psychology, religion, philosophy, education, and medicine—to focus on the evolution of cooperation, altruism, and sociality and possible factors that led to the evolution of these characteristics in nonhuman primates and humans. The traits of altruism and cooperation often are assumed to be among humanity’s essential and defining characteristics. However, it has been difficult to account for the origins and evolution of altruistic behavior. Recently, scientists have found data on altruistic behavior in many animal species, as well as in human societies, that do not conform to evolutionary models based solely on competition and the evolutionary drive to pass on selfish genes. In this volume, recent debates about the nature and origins of cooperative behaviors are reviewed. The hypothesis that unselfish cooperative behavior has evolved in animals that live in social groups is discussed. Many of the mechanisms that primates and humans have evolved for protection against predators, including cooperation and sociality
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