The Altruistic Species The Altruistic Species scientific, philosophical, and religious perspectives of human benevolence q Andrew Michael Flescher and Daniel L.Worthen Templeton Foundation Press philadelphia and london Templeton Foundation Press 300 Conshohocken State Road,Suite 670 West Conshohocken,PA 19428 www.templetonpress.org © 2007 by Andrew Michael Flescher and Daniel L.Worthen All rights reserved.No part ofthis book may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise,with- out the written permission ofTempleton Foundation Press. Templeton Foundation Press helps intellectual leaders and others learn about science research on aspects ofrealities,invisible and intan- gible.Spiritual realities include unlimited love,accelerating creativity, worship,and the benefits ofpurpose in persons and in the cosmos. Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Flescher,Andrew Michael,1969- The altruistic species :scientific,philosophical,and religious perspec- tives ofhuman benevolence / by Andrew Michael Flescher and Daniel L.Worthen. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13:978-1-59947-122-8 (pbk.:alk.paper) ISBN-10:1-59947-122-1 (pbk.:alk.paper) 1. Altruism. I. Worthen,Daniel L.II.Title. BJ1474.F54 2007 171’.8—dc22 2007009545 Designed and typeset by Gopa & Ted2,Inc. Printed in the United States ofAmerica 07 08 09 10 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 q Contents Preface vii Introduction:Selfishness and Selflessness 3 Part I:What Is Altruism? 1: Altruism Defined 23 Part II:What Motivates Altruism? 2: The Perspective ofPsychological Egoism: A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing 57 3: The Perspective ofEvolutionary Biology: The Genetic Dynamics ofCaring and Cooperation 91 4: Psychological Perspectives:Nurturing Our Nature 125 5: Philosophical Perspectives: Altruism and the Role ofReason 165 6: Religious Perspectives: Altruism,Saints,and Believers 201 Part III:How Does Altruism Work? 7: Cultivating Our Altruistic Identity 233 Notes 265 References 279 Index 285 q Preface At California State University, Chico, we have a fine tradition of offering to our honors students upper-division general education courses that,in addition to being exceptionally rigorous,are distinctive in that they are explicitly interdisciplinary and often team-taught.One ofthese courses was conceived through discussions between the two of us,one a psycholo- gist and the other an ethicist,devoted respectively to understanding the way we are and elucidating the way we ought to be.At the intersection of our interests, we found the phenomenon of altruism.We immediately recog- nized that altruism could provide the basis for a stimulating interdiscipli- nary course.We certainly did not imagine at the time just how inspiring the course would turn out to be,for both our students and ourselves.The inspi- ration arises,in part,from the collision ofdifferent disciplinary approaches and the synergistic formation of new perspectives that emerge from that collision.This book is our attempt to impart the outlook we have gained through teaching this course. Altruism is interesting to psychologists because its existence—if,that is, it really does exist—challenges certain long-held beliefs about human nature and the motives underlying our behavior.To ask “Does altruism really exist?” is to ask something important about our very nature as human beings.Many have assumed that true altruism does not exist,that what seems on the sur- face to be other-regarding in fact always reflects an underlying self-interested motive (a position called psychological egoism).Is it really our nature to be selfish? Ifso,can we overcome that essence ofour being and become selfless in spite ofourselves? How? Or is selflessness already part ofhuman nature? And ifso,how prominent a feature ofour psychology is it? Is it merely ves- tigial or incipient,requiring great energy or unusual circumstances to har- ness? Is it a rare characteristic possessed only by a remarkable few? Or is it ubiquitous in our species? The possibility ofaltruism is intrinsically interesting to ethicists because viii Preface it presses us to reflect on the core ofall moral consideration:the issue ofhow we treat others.The long history ofthe field ofethics has been governed until only very recently by an approach that seeks to specify the conditions under which the self is free to pursue its own aims and interests.That is,ethics is traditionally associated in our society with the preservation ofliberties and the avoidance of wrongdoing,altruism representing a happy exception to the rule,but not part ofthe “rules”society must obey in order to remain civil and intact.What ifthis model turned out not to be appropriate for the sorts of beings we are because it misjudged our inherent connectedness to one another,or at least overstated the dichotomy between self-regard and other- regard? Ethics would then proceed from proactive rather than reactive prem- ises.Helping others would take center stage,and what we should do would become a greater moral concern for us than what we should not do.In turn, altruism would become the paradigmatic moral event,justified not because ofa reclarification ofwhat our duties to others are,but because it would in this case become tantamount to human flourishing.Ethics is not studied in a vacuum.The insights it provides are at best thin ifdivulged from the aloof vantage point of“armchair philosophy.”Ethicists must listen to biological and social scientists,whose research importantly bears on properly under- standing their subject:human beings.It follows that as we learn more about ourselves,it is ethically honest to adjust our moral expectations accordingly. One ofour purposes in writing this book is to provide readers with mul- tiple entry points into the academic debates concerning altruism.(Different chapters introduce different disciplinary perspectives,ranging from biology and psychology to philosophy and religion.) At the same time,however,we have attempted to sew a single thread through the material,tying together disparate perspectives and their respective methods into a coherent whole. In so doing,we not only review much of the literature from these various disciplines but also attempt to synthesize it in a way that is our own,arriv- ing, in the process, at some basic conclusions.Among these: (1) Altruism exists.It is not merely an illusion that reveals itself,upon close examination, to be disguised self-interest.(2) Altruism is,however,compatible with some forms ofself-interested motivation.(3) Altruism is,to a degree at least,expli- cable.However,no single disciplinary perspective has the market cornered when it comes to explaining altruism and drawing out its implications.We suggest here that the best understanding is arrived at through making con- nections across the disciplines.(4) Altruism is a capacity that can be nour- ished through various means that human beings have at their disposal. Preface ix We are not born altruistic and we do not divide into “altruists”and “non- altruists.”More likely,each of us falls somewhere on a spectrum,although we have the capacity to move within this spectrum in one direction or another.Our nature determines the spectrum’s range,while where we,indi- vidually,are to be found on it depends on the various ways in which nature is nurtured in our own case.What this means is that how altruistic human beings will be,in contrast to the rest ofthe animal kingdom,is largely within their control.This presents a challenge both to the psychologist and to the ethicist.As human beings,we distinctively have the ability to adjust our nor- mative expectations and (consequently) our conduct in light of who we discover ourselves to be.In this book,we address this challenge by simulta- neously suggesting a more psychologically realistic and a more morally demanding approach to ethics than the one to which our society has become accustomed,one that places the phenomenon ofaltruism right in the cen- ter ofthe fields ofpsychology and ethics. No comprehensive scholarly work ofthis nature sees the light ofday with- out the selfless critical input ofothers.We would like to call particular atten- tion to Stephen Post,who graciously discussed our project with us from its inception to its completion and consistently urged us to head in more fruit- ful directions.The seeds for many ofthe organizational and substantive deci- sions we made were planted during a conference that took place at Claremont School ofTheology in April of2005,organized by Stephen Post and Thomas Oord. In addition to these two, we would like thank Craig Boyd, Stephen Pope,Shelley Kilpatrick,Thomas Phillips,Wolfgang Achtner,Kevin Reimer, Nancy Howell,Ron Wright,James Smith,F.LeRon Shults,Patricia Bruininks, Jay McDaniel,Jeffrey Schloss,Warren Brown,and John Cobb for enriching our outlook by offering their unique perspectives during the discussions that took place at that conference.Letha Dunn read the entire manuscript at the last minute and alerted us to remaining ambiguities and areas that warranted further emphasis.For providing perpetual intellectual stimulation and eager engagement with our topic we would also like to thank Jock Reeder,Stephen Pope,Robert Burton,Daniel Veidlinger,Bruce Grelle,Joel Zimbelman,Eddie Vela,Margaret Bierly,Andy Bane,Paul Villegas,Joel Minden,Amy Quarré, Shawna Brewer,and JeffSteinberg.For providing us with financial assistance during the formative stages ofthis project,we are grateful to the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love,and particularly its director,Stephen Post. The impetus for writing this book,our course (“What Motivates Altru- ism?”), could not have happened without the support of our colleagues