| article |
| The Possibility of Biological Altruism |
| The Possibility of Biological Altruism, Cholhakyongu(Journal of the Society of Philosophical Studies) vol.64(2004), 179-198, in Korean – ABSTRACT – The Possibility of Biological Altruism In my article, I research the possibility of biological altruism. I will show that altruism is advantageous at the group level. Therefore, altruists will be at a selective disadvantage compared with their selfish individuality, but the fitness of the group as a whole will be enhanced. I will work for my ultimate contention that biological altruism could be one of the most important sources foran understanding of human morality. An organism is regarded altruistic when its behavior benefits other organisms at a cost to itself. The costs and benefits are measured in terms of the reproductive fitness for natural selection. If an organism behaves altruistically, it may reduce the number of its own offspring, but tends to boost other organisms’ reproduction. A behavior is altruistic when it increases the fitness of others and decreases the fitness of actor I argue that altruism is advantageous at the group level. A group containing lots of altruists, each ready to subordinate their own selfish interests for the greater good of the group, may well have an advantage for survival over a group composed mainly or exclusively of selfish organisms. A process of between-group selection may thus prompt altruistic behavior to evolve. Within each group, altruists will be at a selective disadvantage compared with their selfish colleagues, but the fitness of the group as a whole will be enhanced by their presence. Therefore, it is the ultimate object in my project to theorize that biological altruism is possible in nature through the evolution of pure group selection. Furthermore, I will show how biological altruism can apply to psychological altruism or human morality. The theories of psychological altruism propose that empathic concern evokes an altruistic motivation. Studies supporting the theories have systematically varied whether individuals can only obtain egoistic goals by helping, or whether they can escape from the situation and obtain the egoistic goals without helping. |