The Causes of Altruism Essay

Acting with an unselfish and benevolent regard towards others isn’t always the easiest thing for one to do and most people have to put in a conscious effort to do it but some people believe that human beings are hard wired to behave altruistically as a primal method of survival. Humans could never

Altruism refers to the concern for the welfare and well being of others without personal gains or

What do these texts suggest to you about the interplay between empathy and self-interest? Support your idea(s) with reference to one or more of the texts presented and to your previous knowledge and/or experience.

Ted Singer is a philosopher who discusses the topic of effective altruism during a Ted Talk to explore how people can do a better job of helping other people in need. Effective altruism is a philosophical and social movement that uses research coupled with logical thinking to find the most effective way to end world poverty and disease by encouraging people to donate to charities. I agree with Singer’s belief that we have a moral obligation to help others and that giving is not as hard or unnecessary as we perceive it to be. Part of the discussion about effective altruism involves equal consideration which is when you look at all forms of creatures and species on this earth and acknowledge that we all beings that feel pain, an experience that

An oxymoron appeared to exist between Darwin’s theory of natural selection (1859) and the definition of altruism (West et al., 2006). Hamilton’s theory of inclusive fitness (1964) appeared to mediate this problem. However, the theory does not explain altruistic acts towards non-kin in line with natural selection. Reciprocal altruism (Trivers, 1971), indirect altruism (Alexander, 1987) and strong reciprocity (Gintis, 2000) have been proposed to resolve this conflict. It is of note that behaviour in all theories has been noted in animals, but will not be discussed further. Instead, the essay will focus on which theories are most relevant when understanding human sociality, with the author explaining why no sole theory is seen to describe the phenomenon. All theories will be discussed in relation to evolutionary stable strategies (ESS), which refers to plans that when adopted by a majority of members in a population that restrict any other action existing, which could yield higher reproductive success (Smith & Price, 1973).

In conclusion, the existence of altruism has yet to be proven but that does not mean it does not exist. More research has to be done in this field to explain about other cases to prove its existence.

The issue of altruism is complicated by the lack of agreement about many aspects of it, including its very definition. The word altruism,

Since Darwin published his theory of evolution, cooperation in organisms from bacteria to humans has been a difficult dilemma in evolutionary theory. Even Darwin did not fully understand how altruistic acts in organisms fit into the natural selection theory. Natural selection theory states that an individual that has inherited a trait that gives them a better chance at surviving, will be naturally selected for. An explanation as to why a trait that causes an individual to act in a way that is costly to it persists in groups has confounded scientists for centuries. Since then, scientists like Trivers and Williams provide theories to explain altruistic acts that still satisfy the natural selection theory. Williams appealed to kinship to satisfy the behavior, and Trivers appealed to reciprocal altruism where an altruistic act was conditionally reciprocated (Trivers 2006, Williams 1966). This study seeks to look at the possibility of three of the main theories; by product mutualism, kin selection, or reciprocal altruism as explanations to cooperation in the Pied flycatchers. The birds provide a rich study system in which they form breeding pairs, large amount of social interactions, and societies are composed of both unrelated and related individuals. Although many studies look at these explanations separately, this study integrates all the different explanations of cooperation into one experiment, keeping the species, environment, and individuals

Called the covariance or Price equation, this formula tested natural selection and altruism's role in it (Bankston). “From the Price equation, we can see that such ultimate causes equate to the different ways in which the frequency of an altruistic allele in a population can increase. Under this approach, the ultimate causes underlying the evolution of altruism, given some positive fitness costs and benefits” (Marshall).

According to Aronson, Wilson, and Akert (2013) prosocial behavior is defined as an act performed for the benefit of another person. Altruism is referred to as the want to help another individual even if it means no benefits, or possibly a cost, for the helper (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2013). One particular factor, the bystander effect, has a profound impact on whether or not people help others. The bystander effect states that as the number of people who witness an emergency increases, the likelihood that any of those people will help decreases (Aronson et al., 2013). Processes associated with the bystander effect such as pluralistic ignorance, diffusion of responsibility, and victim effect all impact the likelihood of prosocial

The act of altruism is when someone helps another benefit without expecting to benefit themselves. In instances with strangers, altruist acts are determined two factors: the cost towards oneself and the benefit for the other person. If the benefits outweigh the cost, then the person will be more likely to help others. However, seeing how the person is willing to harm themselves and possibly their reproductive possibility as a cost, it would normally believe that altruism wouldn’t have evolved within families. However, in 1964, W. D. Hamilton came up with a third factor that help determine altruism in families. Known as the Hamilton’s Rule, it is stated that altruistic behavior will occur when the cost to the self is overcome by the benefit

Cooperation and altruism is what largely divides humans from other animals. While some primate and certain other species do seem to show some precursors to these types of behaviors, none come close to the ability of humans to help each other. Much of this has to do with our ability to act unselfishly despite the fact that in the short term being selfish would be more beneficial. Some groups take this to the extreme like the Hutterites who live in a society where everyone works to serve others. In his book The Origins of Virtue Matt Ridley claims that “we are all Hutterites at heart” (38). However, this does not actually seem to be true the majority of the time. In fact, more often and not, we act selfishly if we can get away with it without any repercussions. One of the strongest bits of evidence against this statement comes from experiments in children that show that very young children are more likely to act selfishly instead of altruistically. Additionally, game theory studies have shown that people are overall more selfish when they are anonymous compared to when their actions and decisions are being watched. This would seem to indicate Hutterite’s beliefs are not so central to our lives. At the same time, these studies also show that people are not as selfish as would be expected if they were only looking out for their benefit. And there are plenty of instances where a person goes out of their way to help a complete stranger. Overall, I think Ridley’s claim is mostly

Altruism, in which one selflessly devotes to the welfare of another without expecting anything in return, often elicits an inexplicable and intangible surge of joy, in which one gains a sense of purpose. For example, I have observed the therapists at PRANA, whom altruistically devote up to an hour, when initially only allotted a half-hour time slot, programming individualized treatments for each patient. In their hour- long treatments, they create a non-fraternizing relationship with their patients that is fully functional on trust, empathy, and generosity. Devoting that extra time to each patient gives not only the

This study is anchored by The Empathy-Altruism Theory of Daniel Batson in 1981. This theory posits that when empathy is triggered, people are motivated to help out of genuine concern for the welfare of others regardless of cost or benefits. The theory states that if one feels empathy towards one person who needs help, one is likely to help the latter without any selfish thought. Otherwise, one will only help if the rewards of helping the other outweigh the costs. There are various rewards in helping others. One includes relief from the distress of seeing another person in trouble. This only shows that segregating true altruism from selfish concerns can be very difficult. (Lacking)

This links to the theory of altruism where people help on a purely selfless basis and have no ulterior motive other than to help those that need help. If someone walked past a man getting beaten up, they may help purely for this reason. But an altruistic act is extremely difficult to perform as by helping; the individual may get a feeling of pride after, cancelling out the altruism. Therefore the reason for the prosocial behaviour is due more to reinforcement.