Strange bedfellows: A Russian prince, A Scottish Economist, and the role of empathy in early theories for the evolution of cooperation. Issue 7 (11th July 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dugatkin, Lee Alan
• Is Part Of: Journal of experimental zoology. Volume 320:Issue 7(2013)
• Page Start: 407
• Page End: 411
• Publication Date: 2013-07-11
• Subjects: Developmental biology -- Periodicals; Evolution (Biology) -- Periodicals; Molecular evolution -- Periodicals; Zoology -- Periodicals; Evolution, Molecular -- Periodicals; Developmental Biology -- Periodicals; Zoology -- Periodicals; 591
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22518
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1552-5007

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="jezb22518-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <p>From 1888 to his death in 1921, Russian Prince Peter Kropotkin forced biologists to ask themselves whether natural selection inevitably led to a dog‐eat‐dog world, or whether pro‐social behavior could also be a product of the evolutionary process. In this historical vignette, I focus on Kropotkin's theory of "mutual aid, " with emphasis on the role that empathy played in that theory, and the unexpected source—economist Adam Smith's 1759 book, <italic>The Theory of Moral Sentiments</italic>—of Kropotkin's ideas on empathy in animals. <italic>J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 320B: 407–411, 2013</italic>. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</p> </sec> </abstract>