Sober, E. & Wilson, D. S. (1998). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Not read. The summary is drawn from the abstract or from what the work is standardly cited for. A reading should check it first.
Why this is here
The standard philosophical treatment of whether unselfish motivation exists, and of the line between evolutionary and psychological altruism, the owner’s thesis (CLAIM-491) has to cross. Hamilton (THEORY-655) is the kin-selection side.
Read in its place
The book cannot be read here, so the record holds its argument at second hand:
- A close critique. Stich 2006 (LIT-1737, NOTE-1282) sets out the book’s evolutionary argument for psychological altruism from parental care (pp. 296–320), quoting it at length, and argues that it leaves egoism open.
Missing still: the book’s first half, on evolutionary altruism and group selection; its own reading of the social psychology (Batson and his critics); and its chapter on pluralism.