Introduction: The biology of psychological altruism

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Justin Garson ◽  
Armin W. Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Altruism

Sober and Wilson on Psychological Altruism

2002 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 702-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
DALE JAMIESON
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Altruism

scholarly journals EAGER FOR FAIRNESS OR FOR REVENGE? PSYCHOLOGICAL ALTRUISM IN ECONOMICS

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Clavien ◽  
Rebekka A. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Economics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
Psychological Altruism ◽  
The Future ◽  
Human Capacity ◽  
Fruitful Research

To understand the human capacity for psychological altruism, one requires a proper understanding of how people actually think and feel. This paper addresses the possible relevance of recent findings in experimental economics and neuroeconomics to the philosophical controversy over altruism and egoism. After briefly sketching and contextualizing the controversy, we survey and discuss the results of various studies on behaviourally altruistic helping and punishing behaviour, which provide stimulating clues for the debate over psychological altruism. On closer analysis, these studies prove less relevant than originally expected because the data obtained admit competing interpretations – such as people seeking fairness versus people seeking revenge. However, this mitigated conclusion does not preclude the possibility of more fruitful research in the area in the future. Throughout our analysis, we provide hints for the direction of future research on the question.

The Evolution of Psychological Altruism

2018 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. 1054-1064
Author(s):  
Gualtiero Piccinini ◽  
Armin Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Altruism

Psychological Altruism, Empathy, and Offender Rehabilitation

2014 ◽  
pp. 210-229
Author(s):  
Tony Ward ◽  
Russil Durrant
Keyword(s):  
Offender Rehabilitation ◽  
Psychological Altruism

VARIETIES OF ALTRUISM

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Kitcher
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Reproductive Cost ◽  
Preliminary Characterization ◽  
The Past ◽  
Psychological Altruism ◽  
Social Scientific Research ◽  
Social Scientific

Discussions of altruism occur in three importantly different contexts. During the past four decades, evolutionary theory has been concerned with the possibility that forms of behaviour labelled as altruistic could emerge and could be maintained under natural selection. In these discussions, an agent A is said to act altruistically towards a beneficiary B when A's action promotes the expected reproductive success of B at expected reproductive cost to A. This sort of altruism, biological altruism, is quite different from the kind of behaviour important to debates about ethical and social issues. There the focus is on psychological altruism, a notion that is concerned with the intentions of the agent and that need have no connection with the spread of anyone's genes. Psychological altruists are people with other-directed desires, emotions or intentions (this is a rough preliminary characterization, to be refined below). Finally, in certain kinds of social scientific research, the important concept is that of behavioural altruism. From the outside, behavioural altruists look like psychological altruists, although their motives and preferences may be very different.

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