David Sloan Wilson
Yale University Press, January 2015
Is this the last nail in the selfish gene’s coffin? I wouldn’t toll the bell quite yet, but biologist David Sloan Wilson does make quite a compelling case for altruism in his latest book, Does Altruism Exist? The author, a longtime proponent of the concept of group selection, argues that the social phenomenon does indeed exist and constructs a solid theoretical foundation for how the selfless behavior evolved and operates in social animals, especially humans.
The classic example, eusocial insects, makes an appearance in Wilson’s book, but his focus is on altruism as embodied by human behavior. As ever, evolutionary history provides the context for his argument that altruism is a real and adaptive trait, best categorized ...
