ABSTRACT
Altruism and evolution do not mix weIl. Paraphrasing Quine (1969, p. 126) one might say that "inveterately altruistic creatures have a pathetic tendency to die before reproducing their kind." Such a view that rather simple Darwinian forces work strongly against the preservation of altruistic traits is actually the background against which various explanations of the genesis of human altruism are being defended and discussed today. Indeed, if we call "paradoxical" any situation where we have seemingly convincing evidence in favor of each of two (or more) propositions that are seemingly mutually irreconcilable, then participants in the current debate about the emergence of human altruism are also haunted by a paradox. Moreover, since the debate is so conspicuously and so persistently revolving around this basic diEficulty it seems methodologically appropriate to make the "paradox of altruism" the cornerstone oE my presentation oE the recent work on the topic.
