#357 Elliott Sober: Group Selection, Altruism, and Multilevel Selection
RECORDED ON JULY 10th, 2020.
Dr. Elliott Sober is Hans Reichenbach Professor and William F. Vilas Research Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Sober is noted for his work in philosophy of biology and general philosophy of science. He’s the author of books like Philosophy of Biology, Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior, and The Design Argument.
In this episode, we focus our conversation on the topic of group selection. We establish the kinds of behavior that group selectin allows for us to have a better grasp on, particularly altruistic behavior. Then we talk about the limitations of a gene-centered approach to natural selection; how people (wrongly) think about evolution; and the averaging fallacy. We also discuss the role of rewards and punishments in the evolution of altruism, and the development of social norms. Finally, we talk about how multilevel selection works, and the extended evolutionary synthesis.
Time Links:
What is a group?
Altruism, and other behaviors group selection applies to
Genetic and cultural group selection
Are there really genuinely self-sacrificial behaviors?
Are there group-level adaptations?
Is there species-level selection?
Are kin selection and reciprocal altruism enough?
Problems with a gene-centered approach to evolution
How people think about evolution
The averaging fallacy
The role of social rewards and punishments in the evolution of altruism
The role of social norms, and how they develop
How multilevel selection works
Should we have an extended evolutionary synthesis?
Follow Dr. Sober’s work!
Follow Dr. Sober’s work:
Faculty page: http://bit.ly/37bWQzG
Website: http://bit.ly/2tEu8tC
PhilPeople page: https://bit.ly/2ZXsW0D
Amazon page: https://amzn.to/38LrqCX
Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior: https://amzn.to/3bpjmsb
Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards?: https://amzn.to/3iMslYp