Altruism—at least in biology—normally means taking an inclusive fitness hit for the sake of others—e.g. see the definition of Trivers (1971).
I thought it fairly obvious I was not using the biological definition of altruism. I was using the ethical definition of altruism—taking a self-interest hit for the sake of others’ self interest. It’s quite possible for something to increase your inclusive fitness while harming your self-interest, unplanned pregnancy, for instance.
So: I am talking about science, while you are talking about moral philosophy. Now that we have got that out the way, there should be no misunderstanding—though in the rest of your post you seem keen to manufacture one.
So: I am talking about science, while you are talking about moral philosophy.
I was talking about both. My basic point was that the reason humans evolved to care about morality and moral philosophy in the first place was because doing so made them very trustworthy, which enhanced their IGF by making it easier to obtain allies.
My original reply was a request for you to clarify whether you meant that utilitarians are cynically pretending to care about utilitarianism in order to signal niceness, or whether you meant that humans evolved to care about niceness directly and care about utilitarianism because it is exceptionally nice (a “niceness superstimulus” in your words). I wasn’t sure which you meant. It’s important to make this clear when discussing signalling because otherwise you risk accusing people of being cynical manipulators when you don’t really mean to.
So: I am talking about science, while you are talking about moral philosophy. Now that we have got that out the way, there should be no misunderstanding—though in the rest of your post you seem keen to manufacture one.
I was talking about both. My basic point was that the reason humans evolved to care about morality and moral philosophy in the first place was because doing so made them very trustworthy, which enhanced their IGF by making it easier to obtain allies.
My original reply was a request for you to clarify whether you meant that utilitarians are cynically pretending to care about utilitarianism in order to signal niceness, or whether you meant that humans evolved to care about niceness directly and care about utilitarianism because it is exceptionally nice (a “niceness superstimulus” in your words). I wasn’t sure which you meant. It’s important to make this clear when discussing signalling because otherwise you risk accusing people of being cynical manipulators when you don’t really mean to.