Evolutionary biologists use the concepts of altruism and selfishness to describe the effects that a behavior has on an organism’s fitness–its ability to survive and reproduce. A mindless creature can be an evolutionary altruist, if it helps another individual at cost to itself. The everyday concepts of altruism and egoism are quite different; they describe the psychological motives that people have in acting as they do. The theory of psychological egoism says that human beings have as their only ultimate goal the improvement of their own situation; this theory denies that people ever have altruistic ultimate motives. Psychologists and philosophers have debated whether psychological egoism is the correct theory of human motivation. This presentation will begin with some history; describing why the issue of evolutionary altruism has been important in biology. We will then consider whether evolutionary considerations can help clarify the psychological problem of motivation. If our minds are the product of natural selection, does this tell us anything about whether psychological egoism is likely to be true?

• Dialogue 5
  9 sessions
• October 3, 1995
  Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India
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