Lecture 7 Study Guide Outline:
I. Human Nature
A. Hobbes (Leviathan)
1. Every one vs. every one, rights to every thing, even another’s body
B. Darwin
1. Evolution of species follows after wars, famines, and death
2. Process of natural selection
C. Nietsche
1. Every animal strives for optimal conditions to expend all its
strength to achieve maximum power
D. Dawkins (The Selfish Gene)
1. Individuals are selfish machines programmed to do whatever is
best for its genes as a whole
II. Can Cooperation Work?
A. Prisoner’s Dilemma
1. Nowak (1996)
a. Evolution is constructive because of cooperation
b. New levels of organization result when lower level units
cooperate
c. Cooperation = specialization = bio-diversity
d. Cooperation is the secret of open-endedness of evolution
III. Inclusive Fitness, Reciprocity, & Altruism
A. Williams (1975)
1. Kinship evolves altruism by natural selection
2. Example: Haldane (1932) “I would take a bullet for him”
a. Altruism as a result decreases personal fitness
B. Wright (1994)
1. We show altruism to specific groups
a. Kin who share our genes (family)
