Are Animals Ever Altruistic?

Are animals ever altruistic?

In exploring this question it is imperative to begin by defining what is meant when discussing altruism. As is often true with the field of Biology there is a dichotomy between what a word denotes in the common vernacular and what it denotes within the field; the most classic example of this being the connotations of the word ‘Theory’ with regards to Evolution. Altruism in a philosophical sense refers to a predominately human, otherwise anthropomorphic act, where the actor consciously and intently commits an act which brings about benefit to the recipient which either a neutral benefit or detrimental effect to the actor. However this differs from Biological Altruism which all though closely related differs in that Philosophical Altruism works on an intangible and subjective level Biological Altruism refers to increasing recipient’s fitness at the expense of the actor’s own fitness. While clearly there may be many instances an act may be both biologically and philosophically altruistic this is circumstantial overlap whereby a deed deemed to be philosophically altruistic comes at a fitness cost to the actor inducing a fitness benefit in the recipient. It is worth noting that some, Psychological Egoists, would argue that Philosophical Altruism does not exist and that every act is committed with self interest in order to gain a benefit, arguing for instance even an anonymous act of charity confers happiness to the actor or the removal of detrimental feelings of guilt. While Philosophical Altruism is concerned with the intentions of an act Biological Altruism deals with the consequences of a specific act.

Having outlined the importance of removing philosophical altruism it logically follows to better defi...

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...word altruism in its biological context, although it should be noted that animals can be tricked into altruistic tendencies - a prime example being Cuckoos tricking other birds into raising their young.

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