Product Description

"A discussion of altruism, drawing on different disiplinary perspectives, could hardly be more timely, and this book is a thoughtful and insightful contribution to the debate." Ruth Chadwick - Distinguished Research Professor and Director, Cardiff University

• What motivates us to be altruistic?
• How did an altruistic trait evolve in humans, given that evolutionary theory assumes we are self-interested?
• What sorts of people are altruistic and in what circumstances?
• Is the welfare state a channel for altruism or does it crowd out people’s altruistic motivations?

This accessible book is the first introduction to the idea of altruism. It explores how we have come to be altruistic, and considers why it is important to remain altruistic, not just for the sake of others, but in order maintain the fragile fabric of human society.

The book surveys the history of the concept of altruism and examines it from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including moral philosophy, evolutionary biology, psychology, economics and political science. It then attempts to bring together the distinct issues and concerns of these disciplines to arrive at a unified understanding of altruism.

The rational self-interested individual of economics is compared with the altruist who exhibits the virtues of empathy, compassion and benevolence. The book also discusses heroic altruism, such as that displayed by rescuers of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe, and psychological experiments which seek to identify the altruistic trait. Scott and Seglow argue that altruism is easily extinguished and hard to nourish, but vital for a fundamentally human future.

Academics and students in social sciences and philosophy will find Altruism of great interest. So too will professionals in the voluntary and charitable sectors and journalists involved in communicating social scientific and philosophical ideas to the public.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #302310 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
The Series Editor, Frank Parkin, is emeritus professor at Kent.

Niall W.R. Scott is a lecturer in Ethics at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Preston, U.K. He grew up in the Netherlands and The United States, in Texas. He started his academic career at the University of Ulster, where he read Biology This was followed by study of Theology at Belfast Bible college, affiliated to Queen’s University Belfast, where he started to develop his interest in Moral Philosophy. After completing an MA at Queen’s University Belfast, he went on to do a PhD at Lancaster University on Kant and the evolution of morality, supervised by Prof Alan Holland and Dr. Emily Brady. It was here that he started to shape some of his views on altruism. He took up his post as Lecturer in Ethics at UCLan in January 2004

Jonathan Seglow is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London where he has taught since 2000. His research interests are mainly in the application of moral and political philosophy to current social problems. He has edited one and co-edited two collections of essays on altruism, all of which stem from the Association for Legal and Social Philosophy (ALSP) Conference on the ethics of altruism which he organised at Royal Holloway in 2002. He is co-editor of Res Publica, the journal of the ALSP, published by Springer. He is currently working on a book on the ethics of immigration.

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Customer Reviews

A Mutually Productive Academic Coupling
`Altruism.' By Niall Scott and Jonathan Seglow. `Concepts in the Social Sciences.'
Open University Press., McGraw Hill Education. McGraw Hill House, Shoppenhangers Road, Maidenhead, Berks. SL6 2QL.

Many philosophical, anthropological and psychological theorists would argue that all human behaviour is based upon naked (or carefully disguised) egoism. However, most of us have witnessed it in others, or personally initiated generous behaviour and extended acts of kindness for which no obvious intrinsic egoistical gratification or public reward has either been expected or received.

University of Central Lancashire philosophy lecturer Dr. Niall Scott and Senior Lecturer in Political Science, Jonathan Seglow's ( Royal Holloway) newest research enterprise: `Altruism' provides a welcome addition to The Open University's celebrated `Concept's in the Social Sciences` series. Scott and Seglow's synergistically created reference work is felicitously enhanced in this mutually productive academic coupling of which we hope to see more.

The pairs' collaborative magisterial overview of the history, nature and quality of unselfish concern for the welfare of others is surely destined to become a standard reference work in all philosophy departments and is a sine qua non source for any ambitious student researching the ethical wellsprings of human benignity and generosity of spirit.

Written in the engagingly clear, unfussy and penetrating style so esteemed by Scott and Seglow admirers familiar with their lectures and literary output, the work is ideally suited for a wider audience. `Altruism' offers an illuminating and valuable handbook for the harassed taxpayer intent upon identifying and disentangling the prevalent pretensions from the infrequent realities of `selfless public service,' and the worthless blandishments of covert `private greed' from genuine promises of quality and service made by suppliers of public and private sector goods and services in contemporary consumer society.

As a reader interested in human behaviour, and as a consumer and taxpayer I only wish this book had been on the market years ago - but better later than never!

Jud Evans.

THE ATHENAEUM LIBRARY OF PHILOSOPHY.