ABSTRACT
If economics is the science of self-interest, then so is evolutionary biology. All the "harmonizers" wanted to show that the pursuit of self-interest would naturally result in public good either by the establishment of conventions or by the play of market forces or because "reason" would reveal the necessity. Since Mandeville in the early eighteenth century set the tone of the debate, economic and social theory have struggled with the problem of the "harmonization" of self-interest and social-interest. Even working from the raw situation something else of importance follows: In any social animal, genetic self-interest often works best in a collective social situation. Thus once sociality has evolved, only the most social organisms will be likely to prosper genetically. The major proximate motivation of self-interested social animals is the maximization of sociality. Observation of most K-selected animals, including humans, shows them in fact obeying a variety of proximate motivations which, if successfully accomplished, result in reproductive success.
