This book is about the evolution and nature of cooperation and altruism in social-living
animals focusing especially on non-human primates and on humans. Although cooperation and
altruism are often thought of as ways to attenuate competition and aggression within groups or
are related to the action of selfish genes there is increasing evidence that these behaviors
are the result of biological mechanisms that have developed through natural selection in
group-living species. This evidence leads to the conclusion that cooperative and altruistic
behavior are not just by-products of competition but are rather the glue that underlies the
ability for primates and humans to live in groups. The anthropological primatological
paleontological behavioral neurobiological and psychological evidence provided in this book
gives a more optimistic view of human nature than the more popular conventional view of humans
being naturally and basically aggressive and warlike. Although competition and aggression are
recognized as an important part of the non-human primate and human behavioral repertoire the
evidence from these fields indicates that cooperation and altruism may represent the more
typical normal and healthy behavioral pattern. The book is intended both for the general
reader and also for students at a variety of levels (graduate and undergraduate): it aims to
provide a compact accessible and up-to-date account of the current scholarly advances and
debates in this field of study and it is designed to be used in teaching and in discussion
groups. The book derived from a conference sponsored by N.S.F. the Wenner-Gren Foundation for
Anthropological Research the Washington University Committee for Ethics and Human Values and
the Anthropedia Foundation for the study of well-being.
