Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T15:49:42.840Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Agriculture increases individual fitness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2016

Karen Kovaka ,
Carlos Santana ,
Raj Patel ,
Erol Akçay  and
Michael Weisberg
Karen Kovaka
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304kkovaka@sas.upenn.educgraysan@gmail.compater@sas.upenn.eduweisberg@phil.upenn.eduhttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/kovakahttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/santanahttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/patelhttp://www.phil.upenn.edu/~weisberg
Carlos Santana
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304kkovaka@sas.upenn.educgraysan@gmail.compater@sas.upenn.eduweisberg@phil.upenn.eduhttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/kovakahttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/santanahttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/patelhttp://www.phil.upenn.edu/~weisberg
Raj Patel
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304kkovaka@sas.upenn.educgraysan@gmail.compater@sas.upenn.eduweisberg@phil.upenn.eduhttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/kovakahttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/santanahttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/patelhttp://www.phil.upenn.edu/~weisberg
Erol Akçay
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304. eakcay@sas.upenn.eduhttp://www.bio.upenn.edu/people/erol-akcay
Michael Weisberg
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304kkovaka@sas.upenn.educgraysan@gmail.compater@sas.upenn.eduweisberg@phil.upenn.eduhttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/kovakahttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/santanahttp://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/bio/patelhttp://www.phil.upenn.edu/~weisberg
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We question the need to explain the onset of agriculture by appealing to the second type of multilevel selection (MLS2). Unlike eusocial insect colonies, human societies do not exhibit key features of evolutionary individuals. If we avoid the mistake of equating Darwinian fitness with health and quality of life, the adoption of agriculture is almost certainly explicable in terms of individual-level selection and individual rationality.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e103
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bogaard, A., Charles, M., Twiss, K. C., Fairbairn, A., Yalman, N., Filipović, D., Demirergi, G. A., Ertuğ, F., Russell, N. & Henecke, J. (2009) Private pantries and celebrated surplus: Storing and sharing food at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, central Anatolia. Antiquity 83(321):649–68.Google Scholar
Bowles, S. & Choi, J.-K. (2013) Coevolution of farming and private property during the early Holocene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 110(22):8830–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, E. (2013) The multiple realizability of biological individuals. The Journal of Philosophy 110(8):413–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godfrey-Smith, P. (2009) Darwinian populations and natural selection. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Grimaldi, D. & Engel, M. S. (2005) Evolution of the insects. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lambert, P. M. (2009) Health versus fitness. Current Anthropology 50(5):603–608.Google Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. & Szathmary, E. (1995) The major transitions in evolution. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schultz, T. R. & Brady, S. G. (2008) Major evolutionary transitions in ant agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105(14):5435–40. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0711024105.Google Scholar
Stearns, S. C. (1992) The evolution of life histories. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sterelny, K. (2015) Optimizing engines: Rational choice in the Neolithic? Philosophy of Science 82(3):402–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Summers, K. (2005) The evolutionary ecology of despotism. Evolution and Human Behavior 26(1):106–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Testart, A., Forbis, R. G., Hayden, B., Ingold, T., Perlman, S. M., Pokotylo, D. L., Rowley-Conwy, P. & Stuart, D. E. (1982) The significance of food storage among hunter-gatherers: Residence patterns, population densities, and social inequalities [and Comments and Reply]. Current Anthropology 23(5):523–37.Google Scholar
Watkins, T. (2005) From foragers to complex societies in Southwest Asia. In: The human past, ed. Scarre, C., pp. 200–33. Thames & Hudson.Google Scholar
Watkins, T. (2010) New light on Neolithic revolution in Southwest Asia. Antiquity 84(325):621–34.Google Scholar