Wilson, Edward O. (Author)
Social Research
Volume: 72
Pages: 159--166
Edition Details: Special Issue: Errors: Consequences of Big Mistakes in the Natural and Social Sciences
Language: English
This article addresses several errors in the kin selection theory of William D. Hamilton formulated in 1964. One of the enduring unsettled issues of evolutionary biology is the paradox of collateral altruistic behavior--that is, when some individuals subordinate their own interests and those of their immediate offspring in order to serve the interests of a larger group beyond offspring. Hamilton expanded this perception into a general theory. He defined the property of inclusive fitness, which totals the result of all interactions, whether altruistic, neutral, or negative, throughout a group of relatives and nonrelatives. Turning to ants and other social insects, Hamilton then proposed a theory of the origin of colonies separate from (but not contrary to) the competition among colonies and solitaires conceived by Charles Darwin. Hamilton concluded, quite reasonably, that kin selection is a decisive driving or at least strongly biasing force in the origin of the advanced insect colonies. It turns out, however, that this is wrong. Hamilton made three mistakes, which have led to the vitiation of his main thesis concerning altruism and the origin of sociality.
...MoreDescription On errors in William D. Hamilton's kin selection theory of 1964.
Article Holton, Gerald (2005) Guest Editor's Introduction. Social Research.
Similar Citations
Article
Johannes Martens;
(2019)
Hamilton meets causal decision theory
(/isis/citation/CBB928905488/)
Article
Gildenhuys, Peter;
(2003)
The Evolution of Altruism: The Sober/Wilson Model
(/isis/citation/CBB000410817/)
Book
Borrello, Mark E.;
(2010)
Evolutionary Restraints: The Contentious History of Group Selection
(/isis/citation/CBB001033348/)
Chapter
Segerstrale, Ullica;
(2008)
Against the Grain: The Science and Life of William D. Hamilton
(/isis/citation/CBB000960103/)
Article
Jean-Baptiste Grodwohl;
(2017)
Modeling Social Evolution, 1964–1973: Inclusive Fitness Meets Population Structure
(/isis/citation/CBB740085092/)
Article
Guido Caniglia;
(2017)
“How complex and even perverse the real world can be”: W.D. Hamilton's early work on social wasps (1964–1968)
(/isis/citation/CBB908767875/)
Article
Swenson, Sarah A.;
(2015)
“Morals Can Not Be Drawn from Facts but Guidance May Be”: The Early Life of W.D. Hamilton's Theory of Inclusive Fitness
(/isis/citation/CBB001553284/)
Article
Borrello, Mark E.;
(2003)
Synthesis and Selection: Wynne-Edwards' Challenge to David Lack
(/isis/citation/CBB000340708/)
Chapter
Borrello, Mark;
(2008)
Dogma, Heresy, and Conversion: Vero Copner Wynne-Edwards's Crusade and the Levels-of-Selection Debate
(/isis/citation/CBB000960099/)
Article
Clement Levallois;
(2018)
The Development of Sociobiology in Relation to Animal Behavior Studies, 1946–1975
(/isis/citation/CBB162818555/)
Article
Swenson, Sarah A.;
(2015)
“From Man to Bacteria”: W.D. Hamilton, the Theory of Inclusive Fitness, and the Post-War Social Order
(/isis/citation/CBB001422113/)
Article
Jeler, Ciprian;
(2015)
Is There Such a Thing as “Group Selection” in the Contextual Analysis Framework?
(/isis/citation/CBB001510252/)
Thesis
Dimond, Christopher C.;
(2014)
Three Perspectives on Multilevel Selection: An Experimental, Historical, and Synthetic Analysis of Group-Level Selection
(/isis/citation/CBB001567619/)
Book
Michael Ruse;
Robert J. Richards;
(2017)
The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Ethics
(/isis/citation/CBB838749899/)
Article
Schulz, Armin;
(2013)
Exaptation, Adaptation, and Evolutionary Psychology
(/isis/citation/CBB001320176/)
Thesis
Panofsky, Aaron Leon;
(2006)
Fielding Controversy: The Genesis and Structure of Behavior Genetics
(/isis/citation/CBB001560772/)
Thesis
Root, Michael J.;
(2005)
Boundary-Work in United States Psychology: A Study of Three Interdisciplinary Programs
(/isis/citation/CBB001560758/)
Chapter
Moran, Mary H.;
(2005)
Barbarism, Old and New: Denaturalizing the Rhetoric of Warfare
(/isis/citation/CBB000651254/)
Thesis
Sripada, Chandra Sekhar;
(2005)
Conceptual Foundations for the Psychology and Evolution of Morality
(/isis/citation/CBB001561694/)
Article
Lahti, David C.;
(2003)
Parting with Illusions in Evolutionary Ethics
(/isis/citation/CBB000340597/)
Journal of the History of Biology
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Philosophy of Science
Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences
British Journal for the History of Science
Be the first to comment!