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Pablo_Stafforini comments on Mike Darwin on animal research, moral cowardice, and reasoning in an uncaring universe - Less Wrong
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Hi fubarobfusco. I think Singer is using the term 'altruism' to mean what evolutionary psychologists and sociobiologists mean by it, i.e., "a type of helping behavior in which an individual increases the survival chance or reproductive capacity of another individual while decreasing its own survival chance or reproductive capacity" (Peter Gray, Psychology).
Sure, that makes sense — but it is distinct enough from its usual use in discussions of ethics and morality as to be confusing. Almost any social behavior beyond the most short-sighted and sociopathic could be considered altruistic by that notion, including a lot that we might usually regard as self-interested ... but then again, we could expect that if we are a species evolved to take advantage of acausal cooperation.