In this dissertation, I argue that Aristotle's account of friendship is egoistic. Focusing on the Nicomachean Ethics, I begin with VIII.2. Here Aristotle claims that in all friendships, friends love only because of the lovable (φιλητóv), which divides into the useful, pleasant, and good. I argue that "because of (διὰ)" refers to at least the final cause and that "the lovable" refers to what appears to contribute one's own happiness (εuδαιμoνία); therefore Aristotle claims that in all friendships, friends love only for the sake of their own happiness. This result may seem incompatible with some types of concern Aristotle principally attributes to his normative paradigm of complete friendship: wishing goods for the sake of the other and loving the other for himself. One might argue that these types of concern are altruistic, and so it cannot be the case that in all friendships, friends love only for the sake of their own happiness. I argue that these types of concern ultimately hinge on one's own happiness. The object is the lovable (what appears to contribute to one's own happiness), specifically the good instantiated by the other's virtue; further, what a virtuous person takes as valuable about another's virtue is how it facilitates her own virtuous activity, that is, her own happiness. From here I turn to Aristotle's notion of 'another self'. One popular interpretation of other selfhood defies the altruism/egoism divide. Here the essential feature of other selfhood is virtue, which allows for no prioritization among virtuous people; there is no prioritization of the other over oneself (as in altruism) nor of oneself over the other (as in egoism), since the relevant parties are equal in moral standing (they are virtuous). Assessing the instances of 'another self' in the Nicomachean Ethics VIII.12, IX.4, and IX.9, I argue for an egoistic interpretation of other selfhood; the essential feature of other selfhood is involvement in one's own actualization. That is, what makes other selves valuable is how they facilitate one's own virtuous activity, one's own happiness. Finally, I address the doctrine of self-love in the Nicomachean Ethics IX.8. Again, some interpreters derive non-prioritization from the text; Aristotle claims that all virtuous people identify with the understanding (voũç), so, the non-prioritization interpretation goes, there can be no prioritization among virtuous agents, as they are identical in the relevant way. I argue for an egoistic interpretation of IX.8; Aristotle endorses praiseworthy self-love, which involves maximizing the superlatively valuable fine (καλòν) for oneself over others. Moreover, such self-prioritization occurs precisely by gratifying the understanding, that which was supposed to ground non-prioritization.

ABSTRACT This dissertation describes and critiques the Darwinian proposal for morality constructed by Professor Michael Ruse. Chapter 1 outlines Ruse's background and Darwinian worldview while also depicting some inherent obstacles to the Darwinian worldview. Chapter 2 describes the moral anti-realism of Professor Ruse and illustrates his position as Hume updated by Darwin. Ruse's ethical skepticism denies genuine objectivity in morality, but he also rejects traditional subjectivism. Ruse describes himself as a subjectivist of a distinct kind. Chapter 3 examines the central and most controversial tenet of Ruse's moral proposal: the illusion of objectivity. Analysis and critique is offered of Ruse's proposal that objectivity is an illusion foisted upon all humans by natural selection. Chapter 4 describes how Ruse defines altruism and illustrates the fundamental problem that genuine altruism is for Darwinism. A charge is offered that Darwinism only supports pseudo-altruism and cannot successfully justify the common practice of authentic altruism. Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation and offers an argument that the nature of God serves as a far superior foundation for morality than Ruse supplies in his proposal. The doctrine of the imago dei provides a robust account of human dignity and morality.

Altruism and cooperation have been troubling concepts for theorists. Where altruism towards kin is well-researched, altruism towards non-kin is an evolutionary puzzle. There have been advances in evolutionary psychology where theorists have explored the evolution of altruism through the lens of sexual selection theory, hypothesising that altruism leads to increased chances of being chosen as a mate, particularly as females value altruistic tendencies in a romantic partner. As a result, it was hypothesised males would be more cooperative and altruistic towards those they were attracted to. In study 1, it was found that females placed more importance on altruism and cooperativeness in a mate, far more than males. In addition, males placed more importance on physical attractiveness in a mate, far more than females. In study 2, it was found that people were altruistic and cooperative towards attractive members of the opposite sex when viewing images in response to moral scenarios. When I aimed to replicate this finding, using a game-theoretic framework in studies 3, 4 and 5, I found that people were fair, and altruistic when allocating stakes, and attractiveness did not predict altruism. This consistent fair behaviour led me to further investigate the role of fairness in mate attraction. In studies 6 and 7, it was found that third-parties found fairness to be more attractive than altruism, particularly female participants. In study 8, I further delved into the role of fairness in mate choice, where I found that fairness could be attractive because it increases relationship maintenance in the short-term, but it is altruism that increases relationship longevity in long-term relationships. Furthermore, it was found that people perceive short-term, fair couples to have less intention to cheat than long-term altruistic couples. This thesis opens a new and exciting door in the field of evolutionary psychology, providing evidence that fairness could play a role in mate choice.

A seleção de grupo foi proposta inicialmente em um contexto ecológico como uma força seletiva agindo sobre o grupo da mesma forma que a seleção individual atua sobre os indivíduos que compõem a população. Apesar da oposição inicial dos biólogos evolucionários tradicionais, nas últimas décadas estes conceitos têm se revelado bastante úteis no estudo de problemas pouco relacionados a sua motivação original. Na primeira parte desta tese, investigamos um modelo de seleção de grupo que usa a extinção diferenciada como força seletiva atuando sobre os grupos. Neste modelo a população é composta de grupos que no jargão de seleção de grupo são denominados demes. As demes por sua vez são habitadas por indivíduos de dois tipos (altruístas não-altruístas) que podem reproduzir-se, sofrer mutação e migrar de uma deme a outra. A dinâmica da população é implementada lançando-se mão de matrizes de transição associadas a cada um destes eventos, levando a um conjunto de equações de recorrência aclopadas cuja iteração dá o estado estacionário da freqüência dos diferentes tipos de demes na população. Examinado inicialmente no regime determinístico, no qual o número de demes é infinito mas o número de indivíduos em cada demes é finito, este modelo revelou o papel desestabilizador das mutações sobre as demes totalmente altruístas. Seguido ao regime determinístico, fizemos um estudo do modelo ainda com extinção diferenciada, considerando o número de demes finito, com vistas a investigar os efeitos provocados pela finitude da população no estado estacionário da freqüência de demes na população. Observamos um aumento ainda maior da instabilidade do estado altruísta provocado pela mutação em face da diminuição da quantidade de demes presentes na população. Finalmente, investigamos um modelo para a evolução da produção de enzimas que usa a seleção de grupo característico em sua concepção. Esta modalidade de seleção de grupo baseia-se no conceito de freqüência média subjetiva, uma freqüência estimada com base na estrutura da população que neste caso também é composta por grupos. Apresentamos uma nova formulação matemática para o mesmo problema com a qual abordamos outro modelo recentemente proposto na literatura que trata da evolução de características altruístas. / Group selection was proposed initially within an ecological context as an evolutionary selective force acting on a group in the same way as the individual selection does on the individuals composing the population. Despite the initial resistance of the conservative evolutionary biologists concerning the ideas of group selection, in the last decades those concepts have been very useful in the investigation of other problems not very correlated to its original motivation. In the first part of this thesis, we investigate a group selection model based on differential extinction as a selective force. In this model, the population is divided into groups, which in the context of group selection are termed demes. The demes are inhabited by two different types of individuals, namely, altruists and non-altruists, which are capable of reproducing themselves, mutating to the other type, or migrating to another deme. The population dynamics is formulated resorting to the transition matrices associated to those events, resulting in a set of coupled recursion equations describing the time evolution of the frequencies of the different types of demes in the population. Considering first the deterministic regime, which corresponds to the limit of infinite demes, each deme containing only a finite number of individuals, this model reveals the destabilizing role of the mutation mechanism on the altruistic demes. Following that analysis, we investigate a stochastic version of the above model, in which the number of demes is finite. The focus was on the effects of the finiteness of the population in the stationary frequencies of the demes. We verified that the instability of the altruistic state due to mutations becomes even more pronounced when the number of demes is reduced. Finally, we investigate a model for the evolution of enzymes production using the concepts of trait-group selection. This kind of group selection is based on the definition of the average subjective frequency, which is estimated by considering the structure of the population. We propose a new mathematical formulation to this problem, which we then use to study a recently proposed model to describe the evolution of altruistic features.

A dissertação aborda o tema da caridade privada e da assistência pública aos pobres em três autores do período clássico da Economia Política britânica: Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus e Jeremy Bentham. Argumenta-se que a questão está intimamente conectada à visão de natureza humana de cada um destes autores, bem como ao contexto histórico marcado pelas legislações conhecidas como \"Leis dos Pobres\" na Inglaterra. Smith aborda o assunto com ênfase em aspectos psicológicos e morais do homem, indicando que existem sérios obstáculos à realização da caridade direcionada aos mais necessitados, principalmente devido a menor propensão humana de simpatizar com o pobre, se comparada à propensão de simpatizar com pessoas mais afortunadas. Entretanto, para Smith, uma sociedade livre seria capaz de reduzir a pobreza extrema através da grande geração de riquezas consequente da divisão do trabalho e acumulação de capital, reduzindo a miséria e a necessidade da caridade. Na obra de Malthus, apresenta-se a visão de natureza humana partindo dos princípios da busca pela sobrevivência e reprodução, que teriam como consequência um aumento populacional sempre que a miséria fosse aliviada. A caridade, neste contexto malthusiano, deveria ser reservada a indivíduos merecedores, com \"freio moral\", e as Leis dos Pobres deveriam ser abolidas. Já a abordagem de Bentham tem base em seu princípio da utilidade, bem como em sua perspectiva de que as motivações humanas são governadas pela busca do prazer e fuga da dor. A partir daí, Bentham evidencia a impossibilidade de que a caridade privada venha a suprir toda a demanda de caridade por indigentes. Para que se resolva o problema, o autor propõe o estabelecimento de uma instituição privada, a National Charity Company, que com subsídio público, se responsabilize pela eliminação da indigência através do encarceramento, auxílio e trabalho compulsório de todos indigentes capazes de realizá-lo. Defende-se que os três autores possuem abordagens diferenciadas, contudo, constata-se que são suas premissas comportamentais - melhor compreendidas como a \"natureza humana\" em suas teorias - que fundamentam muitas de suas conclusões sobre os temas da caridade e Leis dos Pobres. / This dissertation adresses the theme of private charity and public relief to the poor by looking into the work of three authors from the classical period of Political Economy in Britain: Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus and Jeremy Bentham. The argument is that this matter is intimately linked to the conception of human nature of each author, as well as to the historic context related to the legislations known as the \"Poor Laws\" in England. Smith\'s approach is focused on psychological and moral aspects of men, indicating that there are serious obstacles to the offer of charity directed to people in need, mainly due to the lower propensity to sympathize with poor compared to the propensity to sympathize with more with people in better conditions. Nevertheless, to Smtih, a free society would be capable of reducing extreme poverty through the creation of wealth that results from the division of labour and capital accumulation, reducing misery and the need for charity. In Malthus\' work, we find that his view of human nature starts from the principles of survival and reproduction, which have as a consequence a population increase whenever misery is alleviated. Charity, in this malthusian context, should be reserved to individuals that are deserving of receiving it, the ones with \"moral restraint\", and the Poor Laws should be abolished. Bentham\'s approach, on the other hand, starts from both his principle of utility and his perspective that human motivations are governed by the search of pleasure and avoidance of pain. From these ideas, Bentham argues that it is evident the impossibility of private charity being enough to supply for all the demand for charity from indigents. To solve the problem, the author proposes the establishment of a private institution, the National Charity Company, which would, with public subsidies, be responsible for the elimination of indigence through incarceration, relief and compulsory work of all capable indigents in need. It is argued that despite the different approaches from the three authors, in all of them it is possible to see that their behavioral premises (better comprehended as \"human nature\") are the basis of many conclusions on charity and Poor Laws.

The purpose of this dissertation is to model biosocial determinants of group-directed altruistic behavior – exploring the nomological net around it. To do this a study will be presented to determine existing associations among various biological and social predictors and test a life-history-derived causal cascade using a partially exploratory and partially confirmatory statistical technique called Sequential Canonical Analysis to ultimately predict living-donor, non-directed kidney donations (NDKD). Toward that end, some important methodological considerations first need to be discussed. The first consideration revolves around the level of analysis and how this frames the cascade model and its interpretation. Following a general discussion, an exercise in some of the general principles is provided – investigating the higher-order factor structure of the Big-5 personality constructs across two levels of analysis. The second consideration is the use of unit-weighted factor scores and their appropriateness. Following the theoretical discussion, a demonstration is provided – deriving an estimate of genetic relatedness from a set of heterogeneous data sets. Once the methodological considerations have been discussed, the primary cascade model is presented in two parts: 1) the measurement model – operationalizing the measures incorporated into 2) the structural model – testing the proposed causal cascade using Sequential Canonical Analysis. A discussion follows in which the results are summarized, limitations are articulated, and further research directions are explored.

This paper is the result of an empirical research project analysing the decision behaviour of Austrian managers in ethical dilemma situations. While neoclassical economic theory would suggest a pure economic rational basis for management decisions, the empirical study conducted by the authors put other concepts to a test, thereby analysing their importance for managerial decision making: specific notions of fairness, reciprocal altruism, and commitment. After reviewing some of the theoretical literature dealing with such notions, the paper shows the results of an online survey working with scenarios depicting ethical dilemma situations. By judging such scenarios the respondents showed their preference for the named concepts, though with different degrees of confirmation. The results (with all limitations of an online survey in mind) support the theoretical work on the named concepts: Fairness elements (including Rawlsian principles of justice and an understanding of fairness as conceived by a reference transaction) play a major part in management decisions in ethical dilemma situations. Also, commitment as a behaviour that sticks to rules even if personal welfare is negatively touched, and reciprocal altruism as a cooperative behaviour that expects a reciprocal beneficial action from other persons have been concepts used by Austrian managers when analysing ethical dilemmas. The article also tries to put the results into a comparative perspective by taking into account other studies on ethical decision factors conducted with e.g. medical doctors or journalists, and by discussing intercultural implications of business ethics.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Leaders are often thought of as being the top management team of the organisation, illuminating the way forward for individuals by directing organisational activities towards a shared vision (Fernald, Solomon & Tarabishy, 2005). As organisations are constantly facing challenges in establishing a profitable presence in a competitive marketplace, effective leadership is one difference between organisations that successfully meet the challenges and those that do not (Wherry, 2012). In order for any organisation to cope with the demands of a dynamic and ever changing environment, it is necessary for management to move towards a leadership style that allows for the empowerment of employees (Carson & King, 2005). Scholars have identified a form of leadership termed “authentic leadership” where authentic leaders display traits such as honesty, sincerity, high moral standards, ethics and trustworthiness (Avolio et al., 2004; May 2004). According to George (2003), authentic leaders are self-aware and transparent therefore this behaviour sends a strong message to their followers influencing what they, the follower, attend to, how they view themselves and ultimately how they behave. Within organisations where authentic leaders are present, the importance of employee initiative and cooperation become very important (Le Pine, Erez & Johnson, 2002). The individual or employee initiative and cooperation can be viewed as in role (within formal job descriptions) or extra role (outside of formal job description) behaviour. Extra-role behaviour is also defined as organisational citizenship behaviour. This research study investigated if the dimensions of authentic leadership (self-awareness, moral perspective, balanced processing and relational transparency) had an effect on the dimensions of organisational citizenship behaviour (altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy and civic virtue). The population for this study was a provincial government department within the Western Cape. A non-probability sample based on the method of convenience was utilised of which 131 respondents completed three sets of questionnaires namely; a Biographical questionnaire, Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio, Gardner & Walumbwa, 2007) and the Organisational Citizenship Questionnaire (Podsakoff, Mackenzie & Fetter, 1990). Statistical analyses involved both descriptive (measures of central tendency and dispersion) and inferential statistics (correlation and multiple regression). The findings indicated that a moderate to weak relationship exists between the dimensions of authentic leadership (self-awareness, moral perspective, balanced processing and relational transparency) and the dimensions of organisational citizenship behaviour (altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy and civic virtue). Organisational citizenship behaviour of the employees within the organisation is not largely influenced by their leader’s authentic leadership style. Therefore, other factors such as work ethic, organisational commitment, work motivation or personality may have greater influence on organisational citizenship behaviour than authentic leadership. However, a few limitations associated with the study were identified and it is suggested that a qualitative approach be implored as well as other provincial, local or national government departments in the Western Cape be used to contribute to greater representativeness and generalisability. Variables identified in this study are embodied in the human resource functions of the organisation and managers should utilise the findings of this study to better understand human behaviour within the workplace.

As humans we have a remarkable capacity to sacrifice for the future, and an equally remarkable capacity to shortchange it, leaving our future selves to pay the price. The research in this dissertation suggests that sacrifice for the future (patience) may be governed by the same rules that govern sacrifice for others (altruism). Studies found that (1) patience was positively correlated with altruism, and (2) patience was positively correlated with empathic accuracy, a measure that predicted altruism. A third set of studies found that (3) a pervasive influence on altruism--group membership--also influenced patience. Participants who expected to switch groups in the future felt less connected to their future selves and left more than twice as much unpleasant work to the future. This research provides converging support for the hypothesis that common factors promote altruism and patience, suggesting that we may be able to draw on the decades of research studying kindness toward others to promote a little more kindness toward our future selves. / Psychology

Chapter 1 Low-skilled Migration and Altruism: Population ageing has become a common concern among welfare states, including Canada and most of the OECD countries. Immigration has been identified as a solution to help sustain labour-force growth in industrialized countries, and as the factor most able to mitigate dire predictions of future fiscal imbalances. This chapter examines the impact of low-skilled immigration in a host country where households are altruists with a pay-as-you-go pension system to support the elderly. It demonstrates that low-skilled immigration does not harm the welfare of the domestic population. We use an overlapping-generations model similar to the work of Razin and Sadka (2000) but introduce paternalistic altruism into the life-cycle framework. Within this context of inter-generational altruism and pay-as-you-go pension systems, the initial negative fiscal impact of low-skilled migrants is compensated, thus, all income groups (high and low) and all age groups (young and old) benefit from migration. // Chapter 2 Growth and Sustainability: In light of the major environmental issues experienced by several countries in the last decades, several papers have advocated the rethinking of the role of governments in environmental preservation. This chapter develops an overlapping-generations model of environmental quality and production and investigates the potential role of governmental participation in the preservation of the quality of the environment so as to achieve both economic growth and environmental sustainability. The analysis suggests that long term economic growth and environment sustainability can be maintained with tax-funded environmental programs in a context of a negative production externality on the quality of the environment. // Chapter 3 The Incidence of Geography on Canada’s Services Trade: We estimate geographic barriers to export trade in nine service categories for Canada's provinces from 1997 to 2007 using the structural gravity model. Constructed Home, Domestic and Foreign Bias indexes capture the direct plus indirect effect of services trade costs on intra-provincial, inter-provincial and international trade relative to their frictionless benchmarks. Barriers to services international trade are huge relative to inter-provincial trade and large relative to goods international trade. A novel test confirms the fit of structural gravity with services trade data.