Evolution, altruism and cognitive architecture: A critique of Sober and Wilson's argument for psychological altruism

Stephen Stich

doi:10.1007/s10539-006-9030-1

Evolution, altruism and cognitive architecture: A critique of Sober and Wilson's argument for psychological altruism

Stephen Stich

School of Arts and Sciences, Philosophy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sober and Wilson have propose a cluster of arguments for the conclusion that "natural selection is unlikely to have given us purely egoistic motives" and thus that psychological altruism is true. I maintain that none of these arguments is convincing. However, the most powerful of their arguments raises deep issues about what egoists and altruists are claiming and about the assumptions they make concerning the cognitive architecture underlying human motivation.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	267-281
Number of pages	15
Journal	Biology and Philosophy
Volume	22
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-006-9030-1
State	Published - Mar 2007

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Philosophy
Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
History and Philosophy of Science

Keywords

Altruism
Cognitive architecture
Egoism, Evolution
Intrinsic and instrumental desire
Natural selection
Sub-doxastic states

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10.1007/s10539-006-9030-1

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AB - Sober and Wilson have propose a cluster of arguments for the conclusion that "natural selection is unlikely to have given us purely egoistic motives" and thus that psychological altruism is true. I maintain that none of these arguments is convincing. However, the most powerful of their arguments raises deep issues about what egoists and altruists are claiming and about the assumptions they make concerning the cognitive architecture underlying human motivation.

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KW - Cognitive architecture

KW - Egoism, Evolution

KW - Intrinsic and instrumental desire

KW - Natural selection

KW - Sub-doxastic states

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Evolution, altruism and cognitive architecture: A critique of Sober and Wilson's argument for psychological altruism

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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