Kinship and Cooperation the Axe Fight Revisited
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Load more
Recommended publications
-
Beowulf and Competitive Altruism,” P
January 2013 Volume 9, Issue 1 ASEBL Journal Association for the Study of Editor (Ethical Behavior)•(Evolutionary Biology) in Literature St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Gregory F. Tague, Ph.D. ~ Editorial Board ~▪▪~ Kristy Biolsi, Ph.D. THIS ISSUE FEATURES Kevin Brown, Ph.D. Wendy Galgan, Ph.D. † Eric Luttrell, “Modest Heroism: Beowulf and Competitive Altruism,” p. 2 Cheryl L. Jaworski, M.A. † Dena R. Marks, “Secretary of Disorientation: Writing the Circularity of Belief in Elizabeth Costello,” p.11 Anja Müller-Wood, Ph.D. Kathleen A. Nolan, Ph.D. † Margaret Bertucci Hamper, “’The poor little working girl’: The New Woman, Chloral, and Motherhood in The House of Mirth,” p. 19 Riza Öztürk, Ph.D. † Kristin Mathis, “Moral Courage in The Runaway Jury,” p. 22 Eric Platt, Ph.D. † William Bamberger, “A Labyrinthine Modesty: On Raymond Roussel Michelle Scalise Sugiyama, and Chiasmus,” p. 24 Ph.D. ~▪~ Editorial Interns † St. Francis College Moral Sense Colloquium: - Program Notes, p. 27 Tyler Perkins - Kristy L. Biolsi, “What Does it Mean to be a Moral Animal?”, p. 29 - Sophie Berman, “Science sans conscience n’est que ruine de l’âme,” p.36 ~▪~ Kimberly Resnick † Book Reviews: - Lisa Zunshine, editor, Introduction to Cognitive Cultural Studies. Gregory F. Tague, p. 40 - Edward O. Wilson, The Social Conquest of Earth. Wendy Galgan, p. 42 ~▪~ ~ Contributor Notes, p. 45 Announcements, p. 45 ASEBL Journal Copyright©2013 E-ISSN: 1944-401X *~* [email protected] www.asebl.blogspot.com ASEBL Journal – Volume 9 Issue 1, January 2013 Modest Heroism: Beowulf and Competitive Altruism Eric Luttrell Christian Virtues or Human Virtues? Over the past decade, adaptations of Beowulf in popular media have portrayed the eponymous hero as a dim-witted and egotistical hot-head. -
Altruism, Morality & Social Solidarity Forum
Altruism, Morality & Social Solidarity Forum A Forum for Scholarship and Newsletter of the AMSS Section of ASA Volume 3, Issue 2 May 2012 What’s so Darned Special about Church Friends? Robert D. Putnam Harvard University One purpose of my recent research (with David E. Campbell) on religion in America1 was to con- firm and, if possible, extend previous research on the correlation of religiosity and altruistic behavior, such as giving, volunteering, and community involvement. It proved straight-forward to show that each of sev- eral dozen measures of good neighborliness was strongly correlated with religious involvement. Continued on page 19... Our Future is Just Beginning Vincent Jeffries, Acting Chairperson California State University, Northridge The beginning of our endeavors has ended. The study of altruism, morality, and social solidarity is now an established section in the American Sociological Association. We will have our first Section Sessions at the 2012 American Sociological Association Meetings in Denver, Colorado, this August. There is a full slate of candidates for the ASA elections this spring, and those chosen will take office at the Meetings. Continued on page 4... The Revival of Russian Sociology and Studies of This Issue: Social Solidarity From the Editor 2 Dmitry Efremenko and Yaroslava Evseeva AMSS Awards 3 Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences Scholarly Updates 12 The article was executed in the framework of the research project Social solidarity as a condition of society transformations: Theoretical foundations, Bezila 16 Russian specificity, socio-biological and socio-psychological aspects, supported Dissertation by the Russian foundation for basic research (Project 11-06-00347а). -
Why a Public Anthropology? Notes and References
WHY A PUBLIC ANTHROPOLOGY? NOTES AND REFERENCES While the placement of notes and references online is still relatively rare, they are quite easy to examine in a PDF online format. Readers should use find (or control F) with a fragment of the quote to discover the cited reference. In a number of cases, I have added additional material so advanced readers, if they wish, can explore the issue in greater depth. Find can also be used to track down relevant citations, explore a topic of interest, or locate a particular section (e.g. Chapter 2 or 3.4). May I make a request? Since this Notes and References section contains over 1,300 references, it is likely that, despite my best efforts, there are still incomplete references and errors. I would appreciate readers pointing them out to me, especially since I can, in most cases, readily correct them. Thank you. Readers can email me at [email protected]. Quotes from Jim Yong Kim: On Leadership , Washington Post (April 1, 2010, listed as March 31, 2010) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/video/2010/03/31/VI2010033100606.html?hpid=smartliving CHAPTER 1 1.1 Bronislaw Malinowski, a prominent early twentieth century anthropologist, famously stated his goal in anthropology was "to grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world" (1961 [1922]:25) To do this, he lived as a participant-observer for roughly two years – between 1915-1918 – among the Trobriand Islanders of Papua New Guinea (in the South Pacific). Quoting him (1961[1922]:7-8): There is all the difference between a sporadic plunging into the company of natives, and being really in contact with them. -
Trustworthiness and Competitive Altruism Can Also Solve the ''Tragedy
Evolution and Human Behavior 25 (2004) 209–220 Trustworthiness and competitive altruism can also solve the ‘‘tragedy of the commons’’$ Pat Barclay* Department of Psychology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1 Received 4 November 2003; accepted 19 April 2004 Abstract The benefits of a good reputation can help explain why some individuals are willing to be altruistic in situations where they will not receive direct benefits. Recent experiments on indirect reciprocity have shown that when people stand to benefit from having a good reputation, they are more altruistic towards groups and charities. However, it is unknown whether indirect reciprocity is the only thing that can cause such an effect. Individuals may be altruistic because it will make them more trustworthy. In this study, I show that participants in a cooperative group game contribute more to their group when they expect to play a dyadic trust game afterwards, and that participants do tend to trust altruistic individuals more than nonaltruistic individuals. I also included a condition where participants had to choose only one person to trust (instead of being able to trust all players) in the dyadic trust game that followed the cooperative group game, and contributions towards the group were maintained best in this condition. This provides some evidence that competition for scarce reputational benefits can help maintain cooperative behaviour because of competitive altruism. D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Evolution; Competitive altruism; Game theory; Trust; Public goods 1. Introduction Altruism towards unrelated individuals has puzzled evolutionary biologists for decades, and several theories provide possible explanations for its existence. -
Competitive Altruism, Mentalizing, and Signaling †
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 2014, 6(4): 272–292 http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/mic.6.4.272 Competitive Altruism, Mentalizing, and Signaling † By Ed Hopkins * One explanation of altruism is that it arises from “mentalizing,’’ the process of understanding the mental states of others. Another is based on sexual selection: altruism is a costly signal of good genes. This paper shows that these two arguments are stronger together in that altruists who can mentalize have a greater advantage over nonaltruists when they can signal their type, even though these signals are costly, when such signaling allows better matching opportunities. Finally, it shows how mentalizing leads to higher payoffs for both partners in a long-term relationship, modeled as a repeated game with private monitoring. JEL C73, D64, D82 ( ) ne of the biggest puzzles in social science remains that of understanding coop- Oeration in human society. Existing explanations have usually been based either on the theory of kin selection or on the theory of repeated games. Yet, there is much evidence that people cooperate with unrelated individuals even in short-run or one- shot encounters. An alternative theory that sees pro-social activities as an attempt to signal desirability to potential mates has been proposed by Zahavi 1975 and Miller ( ) 2000 . This sexual selection explanation of cooperation has been modeled formally ( ) by Gintis, Smith, and Bowles 2001 . They demonstrate that an equilibrium exists ( ) where a high-quality individual can successfully signal that quality to potential part- ners by engaging in costly pro-social activity. This has been called “competitive altruism’’ Roberts 1998 . -
The Roles of Altruism, Heroism, and Physical Attractiveness in Female Mate Choice
1 1 The Roles of Altruism, Heroism, and Physical Attractiveness in Female Mate Choice 2 Lacey Margana 1 3 Manpal Singh Bhogal 2 4 James E Bartlett* 3 5 Daniel Farrelly 4 6 7 1 School of Psychological, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Coventry University, Priory 8 Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK 9 2 Psychology Department, Institute of Sport and Human Sciences, Faculty of Education, 10 Health and Wellbeing, City Campus, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, WV1 11 1LY, UK 12 3 Brain, Belief, and Behaviour Lab, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB, 13 UK 14 4 School of Psychology, St John’s Campus, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, 15 Worcester, WR2 6AJ, UK 16 *corresponding author: [email protected] 17 18 19 2 20 ABSTRACT 21 The role of prosocial behaviour in female mate choice has been extensively explored, focusing 22 on the desirability of altruism in potential mates, as well as altruism being a mating signal. 23 However, little research has focused on the desirability of heroism and altruism in potential 24 partners. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of attractiveness on the desirability of prosocial 25 behavior has only recently been explored, and to our knowledge, has not explored in relation 26 to the desirability of heroism in a romantic partner. We explored the effect of prosociality and 27 attractiveness on female desirability ratings (n=198), and whether desirability was influenced 28 by whether women were seeking a short-term or long-term relationship. We find that women 29 are attracted to men who display heroism and altruism, and this preference is higher when the 30 male is attractive compared to unattractive. -
Physical Attractiveness, Altruism and Cooperation in an Ultimatum Game
Physical Attractiveness, Altruism and Cooperation in an Ultimatum Game Manpal Singh Bhogal1 & Niall Galbraith1 & Ken Manktelow1 Manpal Singh Bhogal [email protected] Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, Millennium City Building, City Campus, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1SB, UK Abstract Explaining cooperative tendencies through an evolutionary lens has been problematic for theorists. Traditional explanations derive from theories of reciprocity, biological markets, and more recently via partner choice and sexual selection. The sexual selection hypothesis has been tested within game-theoretic frameworks gaining empirical sup- port in explaining the evolution of altruism. Males have been found to be more altruistic towards attractive females. However, previous research has predominantly adopted a design where participants are not engaging with ‘real people’. Instead, participants make decisions when viewing images or hypothetical scenarios without visual cues. The present study aimed to investigate the sexual selection hypothesis using a face-to-face game theoretic framework. One hundred and thirty-eight participants played a 2-round ultimatum game with chocolate coins as the monetary incentive. We find, that physical attractiveness had no influence on generosity and cooperation when participants play a face-to-face ultimatum game. Instead, proposers were fair when allocating stakes, offering an average of half the endowment to responders. This study refutes the link between the sexual selection hypothesis and generosity when playing economic games with real people. Fairness appeared to drive generosity and cooperation. Keywords Game theory . Ultimatum game . Sexual selection hypothesis . Fairness . Generosity . Altruism Introduction Altruism1 refers to an act which is beneficial to the receiver, yet costly for the altruist (Trivers 1971). -
COMPETITIVE ALTRUISM Giving for Glory in Social Dilemmas
Competitive altruism 1 Running Head: COMPETITIVE ALTRUISM Giving for Glory in Social Dilemmas: The Competitive Altruism Hypothesis Charlie L. Hardy and Mark Van Vugt University of Kent at Canterbury Please do not quote without permission! Word Count: 9840 Competitive altruism 2 Abstract Three experimental studies examined the relationship between altruistic behavior and the emergence of status hierarchies within groups. In each study, group members were confronted with a social dilemma in which they could either benefit themselves or their group. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that when members’ contributions were public, the most altruistic members gained the highest status in their group, and were most frequently preferred as cooperative interaction partners. Study 3 showed that high status members behaved more altruistically than low status members. These results support the idea that by behaving altruistically group members “compete” for social status within their group. Keywords: Altruism, Social Dilemmas, Social Status, Evolutionary Psychology Competitive altruism 3 Giving for Glory in Social Dilemmas: The Competitive Altruism Hypothesis Humans are social animals. This phrase is often stated in the social and evolutionary literatures (Aronson, 1990; Buss, 2004; Forsyth, 1999), but what does it actually mean? The answer centers on issues of selfishness and altruism. Whereas most other mammals help each other only within small kinship groups, humans have the unique ability to form and cooperate within large social groups, which include many genetic strangers (McAndrew, 2002). For example, humans invest time and energy in helping other members in their neighborhood and make frequent donations to charity (Van Vugt, Snyder, Tyler, & Biel, 2000). They come to each other’s rescue in crises and disasters (Van Vugt & Samuelson, 1999). -
Moral Reputation: an Evolutionary and Cognitive Perspective
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Goldstone Research Unit Philosophy, Politics and Economics 10-29-2012 Moral Reputation: An Evolutionary and Cognitive Perspective Dan Sperber Nicolas Baumard Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/goldstone Part of the Cognitive Psychology Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Theory and Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Sperber, D., & Baumard, N. (2012). Moral Reputation: An Evolutionary and Cognitive Perspective. Mind & Language, 27 (5), 495-518. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mila.12000 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/goldstone/8 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Moral Reputation: An Evolutionary and Cognitive Perspective Abstract From an evolutionary point of view, the function of moral behaviour may be to secure a good reputation as a co-operator. The best way to do so may be to obey genuine moral motivations. Still, one's moral reputation maybe something too important to be entrusted just to one's moral sense. A robust concern for one's reputation is likely to have evolved too. Here we explore some of the complex relationships between morality and reputation both from an evolutionary and a cognitive point of view. Disciplines Cognitive Psychology | Ethics and Political Philosophy | Theory and Philosophy This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/goldstone/8 Moral reputation: An evolutionary and cognitive perspective* Dan SPERBER and Nicolas BAUMARD Abstract: From an evolutionary point of view, the function of moral behaviour may be to secure a good reputation as a co-operator. The best way to do so may be to obey genuine moral motivations. -
Preliminary Report
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA , SANTA BARBARA BERKELEY • DAVIS • IRVINE • LOS ANGELES • RIVERSIDE • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO SANTA BARBARA • SANTA CRUZ SANTA BARBARA , CALIFORNIA 9310 6 DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY This report was prepared by members of a team at UCSB investigating the allegations. The report reflects the findings of this team, however, and is not an official statement issued by the University of California or the Department of Anthropology. Preliminary report The major allegations against Napoleon Chagnon and James Neel presented in Darkness in El Dorado by Patrick Tierney appear to be deliberately fraudulent. The investigation is ongoing, and not all questions have been answered. However, this book appears to be deliberately fraudulent. On those points where we have reached firm conclusions, we find that Patrick Tierney has misconstrued or misrepresented his primary sources to a considerable degree in an effort to support his allegations. The report below is preliminary. As such it contains some tentative conclusions which require further investigation and checking by experts. The failure of this report to address many of the less significant allegations should NOT be construed as an implicit endorsement of those claims; we have focused only on the most serious charges in this preliminary report. Additional information is available at the following web sites: The National Academy of Sciences statement: http://national-academies.org/nas/eldorado The UCSB Anthropology team web site: http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/chagnon.html The University of Michigan statement: http://www.umich.edu/~urel/darkness.html U. Michigan investigator: http://www.egroups.com/message/evolutionary-psychology/7934 Slate article by John Tooby: http://slate.msn.com/HeyWait/00-10-24/HeyWait.asp More from John Tooby: http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/eldorado/witchcraft.html SLAA commentary on Neel: http://www.egroups.com/message/evolutionary-psychology/8370 Susan Lindee’s AAA talk: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/hss/faculty/neel.htm Int. -
Darkness in Academia: the Shadow of Stalin by Lorna Salzman
Darkness in Academia: The Shadow of Stalin by Lorna Salzman f you thought Marx’s economic determinism (economic relations determine the rest of human relations) was old hat or was not a serious topic of debate outside arcane academic journals, you’d be wrong. The musty century-old I theories of a Victorian philosopher have been raised from the dead by post-modernists and transformed with the flick of a leftist wand into cultural determinism, which wields, potentially, a much broader socio-economic brush. The first to take up this brush, or at least the most aggressive, were the cultural anthropologists who chose Nurture over Nature and Since the publication of followed in the footsteps of people like Franz Boas, Margaret Mead and Edward O. Wilson’s Ashley Montagu (born Israel Ehrenberg). The academic post-modernists followed and were the first to blast modern scientists Sociobiology, the cultural as compromised and in the intellectual pay of exploitive capitalism and determinists have been on the corporations, going so far as to claim that there was no such thing as war path against sociobiology objective or impartial truth because of the innate biases of scientists. and its successor, Today, they and the cultural anthropologists are making a second evolutionary psychology. career of trying to destroy the credibility and legitimacy of those who, horror of horrors, suggest evolution and our genetic inheritance influence human behavior and social institutions. Since the publication of Edward O. Wilson’s Sociobiology, the cultural determinists have been on the war path against sociobiology and its successor, evolutionary psychology. -
A Review of Napoleon Chagnon
Evolutionary Psychology www.epjournal.net – 2013. 11(1): 126-131 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Book Review The Right Person, In the Right Place, At the Right Time A review of Napoleon A. Chagnon, Noble Savages: My Life Among Two Dangerous Tribes—The Yanomamӧ and the Anthropologists. Simon & Schuster: NY. 2013, 531pp., US$32.50, ISBN #978-0-684-85510-3 (hardcover). Craig T. Palmer, Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO USA. Email: [email protected]. Introduction Noble Savages: My Life Among Two Dangerous Tribes—The Yanomamӧ and the Anthropologists, by Napoleon Chagnon, has been long anticipated by everyone familiar with the outlandish accusations of Nazi-like atrocities made against Chagnon by Patrick Tierney in his 2000 book Darkness in El Dorado, and the even more absurd credence initially given to those accusations by many anthropologists. Chagnon explains the delay in the appearance of the book by writing: . I spent years trying to write this book, scrapping much of the effort many times because of the anger that kept creeping into my writing, giving it a very depressing tone. Everything I wrote during this time was contaminated by the lingering stench associated with Darkness in El Dorado. (p. 452) As horrible as that period must have been for Chagnon, the delay has had a very important and beneficial side effect. If the book would have been written in the midst of the El Dorado controversy, it probably would have had to have been devoted nearly entirely to an item by item rebuttal of the ridiculous charges leveled against Chagnon. Such a rebuttal is no longer needed because it has been convincingly provided by others (see Dreger, 2011 for an introduction to the vast evidence demonstrating Chagnon’s innocence and the absurdity of the charges against him).