Citation

Allen-Hermanson S. Stud. Hist. Philos. Biol. Biomed. Sci. 2016; 61: 11-19.

Affiliation

Florida Int'l University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, United States. Electronic address: hermanso@fiu.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.shpsc.2016.12.001

PMID

27951454

Abstract

Is cultural evolution needed to explain altruistic selfsacrifice? Some contend that cultural traits (e.g. beliefs, behaviors, and for some "memes") replicate according to selection processes that have "floated free" from biology. One test case is the example of suicide kamikaze attacks in wartime Japan. Standard biological mechanisms-such as reciprocal altruism and kin selection-might not seem to apply here: The suicide pilots did not act on the expectation that others would reciprocate, and they were supposedly sacrificing themselves for country and emperor, not close relatives. Yet an examination of both the historical record and the demands of evolutionary theory suggest the kamikaze phenomenon does not cry out for explanation in terms of a special non-biological selection process. This weakens the case for cultural evolution, and has interesting implications for our understanding of altruistic self-sacrifice.

Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Language: en