Abstract
The idea of altruism and self-sacrifice appears counter to a simple view of evolution. While a “survival of the fittest” mindset occurs in some Darwinian views, there are counter-examples of animals and humans with cooperative, pro-social, and even self-sacrificial behavior. Social animals such as bees and ants work for the community and provide for the queen due to a haploid-diploid system of genetic relatedness. Some humans sacrifice their lives and money to promote the well-being of others even without genetic relatedness and, rarely, without reciprocity. We will explore why human animals often help people who are less fortunate by giving away financial and time resources. Such behaviors appear to violate natural law. A further complication in human behavior is the “do unto others” teaching in several religions including the Christian love command.
Recommended Citation
Porter, Chris and Guin, Landry
(2014)
"Altruism: Biological Rationale vs. Christian Love Command,"
Dialogue & Nexus: Vol. 1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/dialogue/vol1/iss1/3
