Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Collaboration and human social evolution: review of Michael Tomasello’s why we cooperate (MIT Press, 2009)

  • Review Essay
  • Published:
Biology & Philosophy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Michael Tomasello’s new book Why We Cooperate explores the ontogeny and evolution of human altruism and human cooperation, paying particular attention to how such behaviors allow humans to create social institutions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. From here on, page numbers without a preceding year will refer to pages in the 2009 hardcover version of Tomasello’s Why We Cooperate.

  2. This is Searle’s (1995) distinction between ontologically objective and ontologically subjective parts of the world. It is worth noting that these ontological distinctions can only go so far, at least in the present context. Humans bring to the process of foraging an immense collection of acquired knowledge, along with a conceptual apparatus that categorizes the biological world. This knowledge and these categories are not “out there” in some observer-independent space.

References

  • Boesch C (2001) Chimpanzee hunters: chaos or cooperation in the forest. In: Dugatkin LA (ed) Model systems in behavioral ecology: integrating conceptual, theoretical, and empirical approaches. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch C (2005) Joint cooperation among wild chimpanzees: taking natural observations seriously. Peer Commentary to Tomasello et al. (2005)

  • Bratman M (1992) Shared cooperative activity. Phil Rev 101(2):327–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brownell C, Ramani G, Zerwas S (2006) Becoming a social partner with peers: cooperation and social understanding in 1- and 2-year-olds. Child Dev 77(4):803–821

    Google Scholar 

  • Calcott B (2008) The other cooperation problem: generating benefit. Biol Philos 23:179–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eckerman C, Whitehead H (1999) How toddler peers generate coordinated action: a cross-cultural exploration. Early Educ Dev 10(3):241–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr B, Godfrey-Smith P, Feldman M (2004) What is altruism? Trends Ecol Evol 19(3):135–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liszkowski U, Carpenter M, Striano T, Tomasello M (2006) Twelve- and 18-month-olds point to provide information for others. J Cogn Dev 7:173–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melis A, Hare B, Tomasello M (2006) Chimpanzees recruit the best collaborators. Science 31:1297–1300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Searle J (1995) The construction of social reality. Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Skyrms B (2004) The stag hunt and the evolution of social structure. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Sober E, Wilson DS (1998) Unto others: the evolution and psychology of unselfish behavior. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterelny K (2003) Though in a hostile world: the evolution of human cognition. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterelny K (2007) Social intelligence, human intelligence, and niche construction. Phil Trans R Soc Series B 362:719–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sterelny K (forthcoming) The fate of the third chimpanzee

  • Tomasello M (1999) The cultural origins of human cognition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomasello M (2004) What kind of evidence could refute the UG hypothesis? Commentary on Wunderlich. Stud Lang 28(3):642–645

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomasello M (2009) Why we cooperate. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomasello M, Carpenter M, Call J, Behne T, Moll H (2005) Understanding and sharing intentions: the origins of cultural cognition. Behav Brain Sci 28:675–691

    Google Scholar 

  • Warneken F, Tomasello M (2007) Helping and cooperation at 14 months of age. Infancy 11(3):271–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warneken F, Tomasello M (2009) Varieties of altruism in children and chimpanzees. Trends Cogn Sci 13(9):397–482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warneken F, Chen F, Tomasello M (2006) Cooperative activities in young children and chimpanzees. Child Dev 77(3):640–663

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by a grant from the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (grant number: NAKFI HS11). I would also like to thank Patrick Forber for helpful and thorough comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fresh Pond Research Institute, 173 Harvey Street, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA

    Brian McLoone

Authors
  1. Brian McLoone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian McLoone.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McLoone, B. Collaboration and human social evolution: review of Michael Tomasello’s why we cooperate (MIT Press, 2009). Biol Philos 27, 137–147 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-010-9227-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-010-9227-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation