Goldstone Research Unit
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
2-2013
Publication Source
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Volume
36
Issue
1
Start Page
59
Last Page
78
DOI
10.1017/S0140525X11002202
Abstract
What makes humans moral beings? This question can be understood either as a proximate “how” question or as an ultimate “why” question. The “how” question is about the mental and social mechanisms that produce moral judgments and interactions, and has been investigated by psychologists and social scientists. The “why” question is about the fitness consequences that explain why humans have morality, and has been discussed by evolutionary biologists in the context of the evolution of cooperation. Our goal here is to contribute to a fruitful articulation of such proximate and ultimate explanations of human morality. We develop an approach to morality as an adaptation to an environment in which individuals were in competition to be chosen and recruited in mutually advantageous cooperative interactions. In this environment, the best strategy is to treat others with impartiality and to share the costs and benefits of cooperation equally. Those who offer less than others will be left out of cooperation; conversely, those who offer more will be exploited by their partners. In line with this mutualistic approach, the study of a range of economic games involving property rights, collective actions, mutual help and punishment shows that participants' distributions aim at sharing the costs and benefits of interactions in an impartial way. In particular, the distribution of resources is influenced by effort and talent, and the perception of each participant's rights on the resources to be distributed.
Copyright/Permission Statement
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013
Keywords
cooperation, fairness, economic games, evolutionary psychology, morality, partner choice
Recommended Citation
Baumard, N., André, J., & Sperber, D. (2013). A Mutualistic Approach to Morality: The Evolution of Fairness by Partner Choice. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 36 (1), 59-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X11002202
Included in
Behavioral Economics Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons, Philosophy Commons, Social Psychology Commons, Theory and Philosophy Commons
Date Posted: 18 December 2014
This document has been peer reviewed.