As regards Warren's remarks (quote below), I find altruism in athiests to be neither amazing nor inexplicable. Altruism is well known in non-human animals which are not known to have religious beliefs. Not sure then why one should imagine that atheism poses any special problem for altruism in humans. Or theism for that matter. There are long-standing wholly-science-based explanations for altruism in animals, including humans. Human altruism in particular appears to have a strong reciprocity component. Recent theory has addressed the common occurrence in humans of indirect reciprocity (see Martin Nowak's papers in Nature for examples) in which we tend to help people who have helped others not related to us. Neither religion nor genetic relatedness is required for these models to predict altruistic behavior.
Not sure what 'transcendant messages filtering through intellect' means, so I won't comment on that part of Warren's message. As regards religion, I would not be surprised if it serves some role in organizing our systems of reciprocity. But one could probably argue equally strongly that religion serves to organize systems of coercion and manipulation. Anyway, while the extremes in human altruism are fascinating, nothing by way of religious belief is strictly formalized in an existing body of scientific theory that plausibly accounts for the origin and maintenance of such behavior. Cheers, Dan Papaj Warren writes: > > To me, one of the most amazing of inexplicable phenomena is the altruistic > atheist. To me, a life that denies ultimate purpose should be a life that > is > hedonistic and self-centered. Yet very many atheists are noble and > self-sacrificing supporters of peace, justice and charity. How does > Darwinian selection explain altruism towards another human who shares so > very little of your unique genotype? Where did this standard of behavior > come from and why do so many of us, regardless of faith, or lack thereof, > adhere to it even some of the time? This standard is so often mentioned > in > both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles (and in the Koran and in Buddhist > literature), that I wonder if it's somehow a transcendent message that's > been slowly and persistently filtering through human intellects. > -- Daniel R. Papaj Professor Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 Phone: 520-621-8988 FAX: 520-621-9190 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
