The evolution of cooperation can refer to:
- the study of how cooperation can emerge and persist (also known as cooperation theory) as elucidated by application of game theory,
- a 1981 paper by political scientist Robert Axelrod and evolutionary biologist W. D. Hamilton (Axelrod & Hamilton 1981) in the scientific literature, or
- a 1984 book by Axelrod (Axelrod 1984) that expanded on the paper and popularized the study.
This article is an introduction to how game theory and computer modeling are illuminating certain aspects of moral and political philosophy, particularly the role of individuals in groups, the "biology of selfishness and altruism", and how cooperation can be evolutionarily advantageous.
Read more about Evolution Of Cooperation: Operations Research, Game Theory, Prisoner's Dilemma, Darwinian Context, Social Darwinism, The Social Contract and Morality, Modern Developments, Axelrod's Tournaments, Foundation of Reciprocal Cooperation, Subsequent Work, Conclusion, Recommended Reading
Famous quotes containing the words evolution of, evolution and/or cooperation:
“Historians will have to face the fact that natural selection determined the evolution of cultures in the same manner as it did that of species.”
—Konrad Lorenz (1903–1989)
“By contrast with history, evolution is an unconscious process. Another, and perhaps a better way of putting it would be to say that evolution is a natural process, history a human one.... Insofar as we treat man as a part of nature—for instance in a biological survey of evolution—we are precisely not treating him as a historical being. As a historically developing being, he is set over against nature, both as a knower and as a doer.”
—Owen Barfield (b. 1898)
“The common erotic project of destroying women makes it possible for men to unite into a brotherhood; this project is the only firm and trustworthy groundwork for cooperation among males and all male bonding is based on it.”
—Andrea Dworkin (b. 1946)