authors:
- Wilson, David Sloan
content: 'The answer to the title''s question is, unsurprisingly, "yes", but the argument
  supporting the answer is certainly not trivial. Wilson arrives at the answer only
  after careful analysis, e.g. by making a distinction between altruism in action
  and altruism in thought. The book is based on the notion of group selection in evolution,
  a concept recently rehabilitated by, among others, the author himself. Group selection,
  or more generally, multi-level selection, can occur  under fairly well-defined circumstances,
  overriding or modifying "ordinary" individual selection. Rather than disproving
  the selfish gene theory, Wilson clarifies why and how that theory is not and cannot
  be the whole answer.


  Wilson also ventures into the arena of politics and philosophy, which is a dangerous
  thing for biologists, and evolutionists in particular, to do. But he pulls it off
  admirably. The discussion centers around Elinor Ostrom''s theory of how the tragedy
  of the commons can be avoided (a prime example of altruism in action), and the connection
  of this concept to evolutionary mechanisms is explored. An interesting and provocative
  observation is that altruism is actually a modern concept, and does not figure in
  the major religions, at least not under the definition used by Wilson.'
date: '2018-09-16'
edition:
  published: '2016'
  publisher: Yale University Press
goodreads: '26196609'
html: '<p>The answer to the title''s question is, unsurprisingly, &quot;yes&quot;,
  but the argument supporting the answer is certainly not trivial. Wilson arrives
  at the answer only after careful analysis, e.g. by making a distinction between
  altruism in action and altruism in thought. The book is based on the notion of group
  selection in evolution, a concept recently rehabilitated by, among others, the author
  himself. Group selection, or more generally, multi-level selection, can occur  under
  fairly well-defined circumstances, overriding or modifying &quot;ordinary&quot;
  individual selection. Rather than disproving the selfish gene theory, Wilson clarifies
  why and how that theory is not and cannot be the whole answer.</p>

  <p>Wilson also ventures into the arena of politics and philosophy, which is a dangerous
  thing for biologists, and evolutionists in particular, to do. But he pulls it off
  admirably. The discussion centers around Elinor Ostrom''s theory of how the tragedy
  of the commons can be avoided (a prime example of altruism in action), and the connection
  of this concept to evolutionary mechanisms is explored. An interesting and provocative
  observation is that altruism is actually a modern concept, and does not figure in
  the major religions, at least not under the definition used by Wilson.</p>

  '
isbn: '9780300219883'
language: en
lastmod: '2018-09-16'
path: /library/wilson-2015.html
published: '2015'
rating: 5
reference: Wilson 2015
reviewed: '2018-09-16'
subjects:
- human-evolution
- morality
- political-philosophy
- science
title: 'Does Altruism Exist?: Culture, Genes, and the Welfare of Others'
type: book
year: 2015