1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910779735803321

Autore

Arnold Eckhart

Titolo

Explaining altruism [[electronic resource] ] : a simulation-based approach and its limits / / Eckhart Arnold

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Frankfurt, : Ontos Verlag, 2008

ISBN

3-11-032757-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (315 p.)

Collana

Practical Philosophy ; ; 11

Practical philosophy ; ; Bd. 11

Disciplina

171.8

Soggetti

Altruism - Computer simulation

Cooperativeness - Computer simulation

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: The riddle of altruism -- Chapter 3: The generalized theory of evolution as theoretical framework -- Chapter 4: Modeling the evolution of altruism -- Chapter 5: Empirical research on the evolution of altruism -- Chapter 6: Learning from failure -- Chapter 7: Summary and final reflections -- Chapter 8: Appendices -- Backmatter

Sommario/riassunto

Employing computer simulations for the study of the evolution of altruism has been popular since Axelrod's book „The Evolution of Cooperation“. But have the myriads of simulation studies that followed in Axelrod's footsteps really increased our knowledge about the evolution of altruism or cooperation? This book examines in detail the working mechanisms of simulation based evolutionary explanations of altruism. It shows that the „theoretical insights“ that can be derived from simulation studies are often quite arbitrary and of little use for the empirical research. In the final chapter of the book, therefore, a set of epistemological requirements for computer simulations is proposed and recommendations for the proper research design of simulation studies are made.