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David Sloan Wilson

Elliott Sober

Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior New Ed Edition

by Prof. Elliott Sober (Author), Prof. David Sloan Wilson (Author), David Sloan Wilson (Author)

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No matter what we do, however kind or generous our deeds may seem, a hidden motive of selfishness lurks--or so science has claimed for years. This book, whose publication promises to be a major scientific event, tells us differently. In Unto Others philosopher Elliott Sober and biologist David Sloan Wilson demonstrate once and for all that unselfish behavior is in fact an important feature of both biological and human nature. Their book provides a panoramic view of altruism throughout the animal kingdom--from self-sacrificing parasites to insects that subsume themselves in the superorganism of a colony to the human capacity for selflessness--even as it explains the evolutionary sense of such behavior.

Explaining how altruistic behavior can evolve by natural selection, this book finally gives credence to the idea of group selection that was originally proposed by Darwin but denounced as heretical in the 1960s. With their account of this controversy, Sober and Wilson offer a detailed case study of scientific change as well as an indisputable argument for group selection as a legitimate theory in evolutionary biology.

Unto Others also takes a novel evolutionary approach in explaining the ultimate psychological motives behind unselfish human behavior. Developing a theory of the proximate mechanisms that most likely evolved to motivate adaptive helping behavior, Sober and Wilson show how people and perhaps other species evolved the capacity to care for others as a goal in itself.

A truly interdisciplinary work that blends biology, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology, this book will permanently change not just our view of selfless behavior but also our understanding of many issues in evolutionary biology and the social sciences.

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0674930479
ISBN-13

978-0674930476
Edition

New Ed
Publisher

Harvard University Press
Publication date

October 1, 1999
Language

English
Dimensions

6.03 x 1.08 x 9.26 inches
Print length

416 pages
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Editorial Reviews

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“Do people help others because they think they will get pleasure from doing so (hedonism), or because they have an ultimate desire to help another (true altruism)? Sober and Wilson argue that evolutionary biology can shed light on this problem. They do not say that human traits that evolved by individual selection are hedonistic and those that evolved by group selection are truly altruistic. Their argument is more subtle than that...[This book] will stimulate thought about important questions.”―John Maynard Smith, Nature

“Unto Others, a collaboration between Elliott Sober, one of the founders of the modern philosophy of biology, and David Sloan Wilson, one of the most creative theoreticians in evolutionary studies, wades into this turbulent stream [of evolutionary biology ideology] at precisely the point where so many other adventurers have been swept away: the problem of the origin of altruistic behavior...At first sight Unto Others appears to be a reformulation of the now orthodox view of the evolution of altruism. It is, however, a great deal more subversive than that, for, if its alternative scheme is taken seriously, evolutionary biologists should stop characterizing the process as one in which genes drive organisms to develop particular characteristics that maximize their fitness...Unto Others is precisely that combination of radical reexamination of a system of explanation, an examination from the roots, with a rigorous technical analysis of both biological and epistemological questions that we all are supposed to engage in. What marks off their intellectual production is not its ideology but the seriousness with which they have taken the intellectual project. The hinge of Sober and Wilson's argument is a rejection of the prejudice that natural selection must operate directly solely on individuals. They point out that groups of organisms may also be the units of differential reproduction...A large part of Unto Others is taken up with a classic problem in philosophy and psychology that is analogous to the evolutionary question of whether the appearance of altruism at the individual level is really selfishness at the genic level. Is human altruism really egoism, or even pure hedonism, in disguise?...In the end, Sober and Wilson are entirely forthright in saying that they have consciously adopted a pluralistic perspective.”―R. C. Lewontin, New York Review of Books

“Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson are clear that there are two notions of altruism, as well as two challenges to its possibility, stemming from quite different sources, but their wide-ranging book is intended to tackle both. They begin with biological altruism, offering their own perspective on how this puzzle should be resolved, and discussing the ways in which natural selection of social structures may have figured in the history of our species. In the second half of Unto Others, they turn to psychological altruism, arguing that debates between those who believe that human beings are sometimes other-directed and their sceptical opponents cannot be settled either by philosophical arguments or by psychological experiments... Sober and Wilson offer a distinctive approach to the problem of biological altruism, one that attempts to incorporate the accepted solutions within a unified theory. For two decades, Sober, an internationally prominent philosopher of biology, has provided welcome clarification of the concept of natural selection, while, for an even longer period, Wilson, a well-known theoretical biologist, has campaigned to rehabilitate one of the most vilified views about the nature of selection...[In this book] they have considerably clarified what is at stake in the debate about psychological altruism, and have demonstrated how an evolutionary perspective might bear on it.”―Philip Kitcher, London Review of Books

“Unselfish action is a hallmark of humanity. We may sacrifice our lives for the good of our children, for the good of our nation, and sometimes even for the good of a stranger. What motivates such altruistic acts? To a biologist, this question has two very different answers. There is the proximate answer that explains our psychological reasons for acting altruistically, and there is the ultimate answer that explains how an unselfish act increases our Darwinian fitness relative to some selfish alternative. Through the two more-or-less independent sections of Unto Others, Sober and Wilson discuss both proximate and ultimate explanations. They use both sections to also emphasize their belief in the value of pluralistic hypotheses, with natural selection driven by multiple levels of causation and behavior driven by multiple desires... Sober and Wilson...have the laudable goal of stimulating research into levels of selection and motivation as applied to humans and their culture.”―Leonard Nunney, Science

“[A] tour de force about the multitrack selection processes that have shaped life's creatures, including human behaviour, that dispels once and for all that peculiarly mystifying belief among gene selectionists that 'group selection' is risible and unworthy of intellectual consideration... Sober and D. S. Wilson are two of the leading thinkers in evolutionary biology who have made group selection respectable again and rescued altruism and many other supposedly counter-intuitive behavioural traits, from that contortionist potpourri of selfish-genery, inclusive fitness theory and game theory...[Unto Others] is a step in the right direction towards a truly new Darwinism.”―Gabby Dover, Times Higher Education Supplement

“Unto Others is an important, original, and well-written book. It contains the definitive contemporary statement on higher-level selection and the evolutionary origin of cooperation.”―E. O. Wilson

“This provocative, important book outlines an evolutionary theory of altruism, examining past theoretical problems--in particular, how to distinguish altruism and selfish (or hedonistic) motives. Drawing deeply and judiciously on research in theoretical biology, social psychology, philosophy, and anthropology, Sober and Wilson--both long-standing and eminent participants in controversies about the evolution of altruism--make two major claims: first, that 'natural selection is unlikely to have given us purely egoistic motives,' second, that the much-maligned concept of group selection--the idea that natural selection sometimes operates at the level of the group--may be a mechanism for the evolution of altruism...Readers will be impressed by the breadth of the analysis and, especially, the extraordinary clarity of the presentation. This will most likely be regarded as a landmark, if controversial, work. It is a testament to the authors' understanding and skill as writers that it is also fun to read.”―R. R. Cornelius, Choice

“Unto Others, written by two eminent scholars, a philosopher (Elliott Sober) and a biologist (David Wilson) who have thought long and hard about unselfish cooperative behavior and group selection, is bound to have a long-lasting and strong influence on the field of evolutionary biology...In this book, philosophical and biological discourse are tightly woven together into an easy-to-read package. The major appeal of this book to those interested in he comparative and evolutionary study of behavior centers on the broad range of material that Sober and Wilson consider in arguing for group selection...All in all, Unto Others is a good read...I'm sure all readers will come away from this stimulating book having learned a lot and having had their own views challenged by this thoughtful and very timely essay.”―Marc Bekoff, Ethology

From the Back Cover

[This book] will stimulate thought about important questions.-John Maynard Smith, Nature

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press; New Ed edition (October 1, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674930479
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674930476
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.02 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.03 x 1.08 x 9.26 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,209,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,119 in Medical Social Psychology & Interactions
- #2,759 in Popular Social Psychology & Interactions
- #4,427 in Philosophy of Ethics & Morality

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4.3 19 ratings

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D. S. Heersink

Altruism Has Biological Underpinnings

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 14, 2005

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Is there empirical, biological, and evolutionary justification that mankind acts with unselfish behavior? The authors approach the subject of human altruism and the biological advantages of multilevel (group) selection vis-a-vis human egoism, hedonism, anti-functionalism, and individual functionalism from an interdisciplinary, but primarily evolutionary, approach.

The first half of the book deals with biology, genetics, and anthropology that provide the empirical grounds and logical inferences for believing that multi-level functionalism (groups and stratification) as opposed to individual-only and anti-functionalism evolved through natural selection by rewarding the fittest group selection, social norms, group adaptation, and cultural evolution, just as it rewards the fittest individual. Ergo, just as natural selection favors the fittest individuals, so it favors those individuals who cooperate in the traits of the fittest groups that survive over many generations.

The second section of the book takes the multi-level functionalism and altruism of the first half and evaluates arguments for and against it from psychological, motivational, and philosophical perspectives. While largely armchair speculation (due to lack of empirical studies confined to products of evolution rather than the actual process of evolution), the authors conclude again that natural selection again favors the fittest group, multi-level functionalism, and altruism over egoism, hedonism, selfishness, and individual selection only.

The authors' evidence and arguments are elegant, persuasive, and rigorous, but as the authors admit, much of the arguments are speculative, as no large scale studies have been done to prove or disprove their theses, because the whole subject had been largely abandoned for decades. Still, the cogent and coherent arguments make a convincing case for the rehabilitation of group-altruistic natural selection that is every bit as effectual as individual-selfish natural selection, just as Darwin presciently observed in the "Descent of Man." The conclusion is that mankind is naturally disposed by evolution to work altruistically in groups and that certain groups adapt to their environment better than others increases the significance of natural selection of the group as well as the individual. What the authors prove is that we can no longer ignore group dynamics in the evolutionary process. Altruism benefits both the individual and the group in natural selection. Highly recommended.

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Nathan R.

Great book! group selection and multi-level selection plus interaction of these mechanisms and human evolution

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 16, 2014

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I had been skeptical of group selection for a number of reasons, though I always respected DS wilson and E Sobers tireless efforts to maintain the argument. I was even critical of the evolution of Myxoma virulence as a case study of group selection. However, After having spent the last 7 months reexamining the idea, I am now quite comfortable with it and appreciate Wilson and Sober for continuing to maintain a precise, informed, and very disciplined discourse about this idea that elicits far more gut-level antagonism than it deserves.
Of all the materials that I examined (books and journal articles) This book represents the best treatment of the history and underlying ideas while also pointing out some of the reasons for us to give a hoot; namely, that group selection and individual selection together provide reasonable explanations for alot of the phenomena that occur in human societies. They title it unto others, I would call it us and them.

One person found this helpful

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Aether

Great Insights!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

Such a great book with incredible scientific and philosophical insights to the human condition and evolutionary process. Society evolves just as biology does (if not more so). A must read for anyone interested in learning as to why evolutionary theory DOESN'T encourage Social Darwinism.

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Viktor Blasjo

Partial synopsis (chs. 1-2)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 28, 2009

Group selection. Suppose a population is divided into two groups: one with many altruists and one with few. Within each group altruists are (by definition) less fit than non-altruists so they will decrease in frequency. But altruists can still increase in frequency in the population as a whole, due to the altruist group expanding more rapidly. So while the altruists will die out by individual selection if the groups are completely isolated, If the groups remix or compete then the altruists can use this net-frequency advantage to win in the long run (group selection). "Altruism is maladaptive with respect to individual selection but adaptive with respect to group selection." Individual selection here means within-group selection. It may be tempting to instead define individual selection as selection for the best population-wide average fitness; but this definition (the "averaging fallacy") covers all selection, so it cannot be used to argue against group selection, only to define it away.

Example: sex ratios. Many alleged instances of group selection can be explained in terms of individual or gene selection, and it is often virtually impossible to decide between them on empirical grounds. But a case which seems to allow for empirical test is sex ratios. A female-biased sex ratio makes for faster population growth, since females can have only a limited number of offspring whereas there is no such limit for men. Thus group selection should produce a female-biased sex ratio (assuming that there are plentiful resources; conversely otherwise). Individual selection on the other hand does not want this to happen, since giving birth to a male means more future offspring. There are indeed many species with female-biased sex ratios that make good sense from a group selection point of view (e.g., parasites, who generally do not lack sustenance and are naturally divided into groups (per host)).

Kin selection. As we saw above, altruists may enjoy a temporary net-frequency gain despite declining within each group. But they need to act to take advantage of this gain (or else they will ultimately succumb to subversion from within). One way of doing so is to send out the altruists produced by the successful group as "colonists" to form new groups. Precisely this happens when the groups in questions are families. Therefore kin selection is not an alternative to group selection but rather a special case of it.

Evolutionary game theory. Game theory has been presented as an alternative to group selection which explains altruism as a strategy devised by the individual for his benefit. For example, the tit-for-tat strategy (start out altruistic and then mimic the opponent) is effective in a population with repeated prisoner's-dillema-style interactions. Clearly this is individual selection (the successful individual are those who have figured out how to win) rather than group selection (there aren't even any groups involved at all). But no: the pairs can be seen as groups. Now everything becomes group selection just as above: the selfish player is fittest within any pair and can be beaten only by the altruist pair growing faster (the entries in the payoff matrix are number of offspring as a result of this interaction). This example illustrates the general point that the relevant notion of group is that of a "trait group" (i.e., a group interacting with respect to a particular trait). This is the type of group needed for group selection as defined above. Spatial compartmentalisation, for example, is irrelevant.

Gene's eye view. This theory is also presented as an alternative to group selection but it is in fact nothing of the sort. Nothing have ever been explained or predicted by merely staring at genes. The real work when investigating any given evolutionary scenario is being done by tag-along concepts such as "vehicles." It is commonly claimed that individuals but not groups are vehicles, but whether this is so or not has nothing to do with the gene's eye view as such, and so does nothing to promote this theory as an alternative to group selection.

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Diego Lopez Alonso

Un libro imprescindible para un biólogo evolutivo

Reviewed in Spain 🇪🇸 on February 10, 2017

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No es simplemente recomendable: es imprescindible en la biblioteca de un biólogo evolutivo. Revisa con rigor la historia de la selección de grupo para demostrar con evidencias fácticas, además de con modelos matemáticos teóricos,que la selección de grupo es un nivel más de acción de la selección natural que puede actuar en determinadas circunstancias. La evolución del altruismo como conducta humana es explicada de manera convincente a partir de la nueva teoría de selección "multinivel" (que es la vieja teoría de Darwin).

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