Group selection and our obsession with the grand questions of life

The Monist 93 (1):76-95 (2010)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to make an unlikely connection between the old question about the meaning of life and some important concepts in philosophy of biology. More precisely, I argue that while biology is unlikely to help us to figure out the meaning of life, the fact that this question has been considered to be such a crucial one could be explained with the help of some consideration of our evolutionary past. I argue that if there is evidence for group selection in the course of human evolution, this may explain not the meaning of life but rather the reason why we are preoccupied with this question. First, I examine what group selection is and what role it played in human evolution. After surveying the evidence for the claim that in the course of human evolution we lived in isolated group societies, I analyse what influence this social structure had on our present psychological dispositions, including our quest for the meaning of life.

Similar books and articles

Why won't the group selection controversy go away?Samir Okasha - 2001 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52 (1):25-50.
Niche construction and group selection.Nicholas S. Thompson - 2000 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (1):161-162.
Understanding life: Recent work in philosophy of biology.Kim Sterelny - 1995 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 46 (2):155-183.
The concept of group heritability.Samir Okasha - 2003 - Biology and Philosophy 18 (3):445-461.
Morality and Evolution by Group Selection.Michael Byron - 1999 - Http://Www.Bu.Edu/Wcp/Papers/TEth/TEthByro.Htm.
Evolutionary ethics and biologically supportable morality.Michael Byron - 1999 - Proceedings of Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, PAIDEIA: Philosophy Educating Humanity.
Holism, Individualism, and the Units of Selection.Elliott Sober - 1980 - PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1980:93 - 121.

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-07-07

Downloads
227 (#81,455)

6 months
43 (#81,083)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Bence Nanay
University of Antwerp

Citations of this work

Popper's Darwinian analogy.Bence Nanay - 2011 - Perspectives on Science 19 (3):337-354.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references