Richard Wrangham

The Goodness Paradox, written by Richard Wrangham, is a book that explores the relationship between human evolution and the paradoxical coexistence of human virtues and violence. Wrangham argues that humans have evolved to be both violent and virtuous, and that this paradoxical nature is the result of two competing evolutionary forces: selection for aggression and selection for cooperation.

According to Wrangham, humans evolved to be aggressive because violence was an effective strategy for survival and reproduction in the ancestral environment. However, as humans began to live in larger groups, cooperation and social intelligence became increasingly important for survival and reproduction. This led to the evolution of virtuous traits such as empathy, altruism, and fairness.

The Goodness Paradox argues that these two evolutionary forces are in constant tension with each other, and that the balance between them has important implications for human behavior and society. Wrangham suggests that understanding this paradoxical nature of human evolution can help us to better understand the causes of violence and conflict, and to develop more effective strategies for promoting peace and cooperation.

The Goodness Paradox is a thought-provoking book that challenges our assumptions about human nature and offers insights into the complex relationship between violence and virtue in human evolution.… (lisätietoja)

This work has a clear vision of two views of human nature which the author associates with the views of Hobbes and Rousseau. People are selfish and violent or they are altruistic and peaceful. The author, drawing on several disciplines, suggests that evolution has made people both. The author suggests that humans self-domesticated, suppressing the genes that cause the hormones promoting "reactive aggression". The author suggest that humans are capable of "coalitionary proactive aggression" which makes humans tend to act aggressively when we believe we will succeed, with low risk of consequences. The author draws on behavioural studies of several mammals including rats, sable foxes, wolves, chimpanzees, bonobos and genetic and molecular biology, The author frequently points out that the fossil record is sparse, and that there are no sources of historical evidence. The author suggests that early humans, like wolves and chimpanzees, engaged in collusion to attack and overthrow alpha male "bullies", which led to cultural pressure to cooperate, and to adopt pro-social moralities. It is an interesting line of speculation.… (lisätietoja)