Rusch Hannes
Behavioural and Institutional Economics, JLU Giessen, Giessen, Germany Philosophy of Biology, JLU Giessen, Giessen, Germany Peter Löscher Chair of Business Ethics, TU München, Arcisstrasse 21, Munich 80333, Germany
Proc Biol Sci. 2014 Nov 7;281(1794):20141539. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1539.
Drawing on an idea proposed by Darwin, it has recently been hypothesized that violent intergroup conflict might have played a substantial role in the evolution of human cooperativeness and altruism. The central notion of this argument, dubbed 'parochial altruism', is that the two genetic or cultural traits, aggressiveness against the out-groups and cooperativeness towards the in-group, including self-sacrificial altruistic behaviour, might have coevolved in humans. This review assesses the explanatory power of current theories of 'parochial altruism'. After a brief synopsis of the existing literature, two pitfalls in the interpretation of the most widely used models are discussed: potential direct benefits and high relatedness between group members implicitly induced by assumptions about conflict structure and frequency. Then, a number of simplifying assumptions made in the construction of these models are pointed out which currently limit their explanatory power. Next, relevant empirical evidence from several disciplines which could guide future theoretical extensions is reviewed. Finally, selected alternative accounts of evolutionary links between intergroup conflict and intragroup cooperation are briefly discussed which could be integrated with parochial altruism in the future.
基于达尔文提出的一个观点，最近有人提出假说，认为群体间的暴力冲突可能在人类合作性和利他主义的进化过程中发挥了重要作用。这一论点的核心概念被称为“狭隘利他主义”，即针对外群体的攻击性和对本群体的合作性这两种基因或文化特征，包括自我牺牲的利他行为，可能在人类中共同进化。本综述评估了当前“狭隘利他主义”理论的解释力。在对现有文献进行简要概述之后，讨论了在解释最广泛使用的模型时存在的两个陷阱：关于冲突结构和频率的假设隐含地导致的潜在直接利益以及群体成员之间的高度关联性。然后，指出了在构建这些模型时所做的一些简化假设，这些假设目前限制了它们的解释力。接下来，回顾了来自多个学科的相关实证证据，这些证据可以指导未来的理论扩展。最后，简要讨论了群体间冲突与群体内合作之间进化联系的一些替代性解释，这些解释未来可能会与狭隘利他主义相结合。
