Why Most Theories Get It Wrong: Altruistic Intentions as an Explanation of the Evolution of Genuine Altruism

Abstract

The existence of human altruism is a paradox, as evolutionary theory teaches us that natural selection should never have evolved it. Indeed, sociobiology has shown that a lot of altruism in humans emerges as ultimate self-interest. In this chapter we argue, however, that genuine altruism does exist and that it can be a result of natural selection. On the basis of experimental results we show that individuals do behave genuinely altruistically in one-shot interactions when no one is watching. We argue that previous evolutionary theories fail to explain this finding, because their analysis focuses on the biological concept of altruism only (i.e., altruism defined in terms of behavioral consequences), and leaves the altruistic intentions of actors aside. Referring to the commitment model of Frank we argue that individuals have evolved dispositions for altruistic intentions. We hypothesize that (1) these stable altruistic intentions are recognizable, and (2) that altruists cooperate electively with each other on the basis of their recognition abilities. Providing empirical evidence for our hypotheses, we argue that genuine altruism could have evolved through assortative processes between cooperating altruists whose synergetic benefits outcompeted the selfish advantage of egoists.