Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Altruism: In philosophy, altruism is a moral theory and ethical concept that advocates selfless concern for the well-being and interests of others, often at the expense of one's own self-interest.
_____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Stephen Jay Gould on Altruism - Dictionary of Arguments
II 56 Altruism/behavior/evolution/Gould: definition Haplodiploid: the males develop from unfertilized eggs and have no father. Fertilized eggs, on the other hand, produce diploid females. This can be used to control the number of females. II 57 This fascinating system can help explain the origin of social systems in ants. Or also, for example, that a male mite dies before its own birth after fertilising its sisters in the womb. At least 10% of all known animal species are haplodiploid. This leads to problems from the Darwinian point of view: in a world where every individual works for personal reproductive success, why should a large number of females give up their own reproduction in order to help their mother (the queen) to bring in more sisters? The ingenious explanation is based on the asymmetric relationship between the sexes of haplodiploid animals. In both diploid and haplodiploids, the mother gives half of her genetic material to her offspring (other half the father). Therefore, she is related to her sons and daughters in equal measure. A diplo female also shares half of its genes with its brothers and sisters. A haplo female, on the other hand, shares three quarters of the genes with the sisters but only one quarter with the brothers. If the Darwinian imperative causes organisms to maximize the number of their own genes in future generations, then the females of haplodiploids would do better to help their mothers raise their sisters than to produce their own offspring. In fact, such developments have occurred several times independently of each other. II 59 Causality: the biologists were so fascinated by these observations that a subtle reversal of causality has crept into many descriptions: the very existence of haplodiploidism is elegantly associated with the decision "for" a better social system such as ants. >Causality, >Causal explanation, >Explanations. II 61 GouldVs: haplodiploid ancestors were certainly not completely social, this has only developed as a "phylogenetic additional thought" in some independent tribes. Environment of such tribes: the environment of such tribes is created by every single female! Even a non-full-grown one becomes a possible founder of new colonies, as it is able to produce a generation of males, with which it can mate to create a new generation of females._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Gould I Stephen Jay Gould The Panda’s Thumb. More Reflections in Natural History, New York 1980 German Edition: Der Daumen des Panda Frankfurt 2009 Gould II Stephen Jay Gould Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes. Further Reflections in Natural History, New York 1983 German Edition: Wie das Zebra zu seinen Streifen kommt Frankfurt 1991 Gould III Stephen Jay Gould Full House. The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin, New York 1996 German Edition: Illusion Fortschritt Frankfurt 2004 Gould IV Stephen Jay Gould The Flamingo’s Smile. Reflections in Natural History, New York 1985 German Edition: Das Lächeln des Flamingos Basel 1989 |
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Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-29