Morality evolved because fair partners were preferred in cooperative interactions

Evidence

We develop an approach to morality as an adaptation to an environment in which individuals were in competition to be chosen and recruited in mutually advantageous cooperative interactions. In this environment, the best strategy is to treat others with impartiality and to share the costs and benefits of cooperation equally. Those who offer less than others will be left out of cooperation; conversely, those who offer more will be exploited by their partners. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 4

Forms of cooperation can evolve without morality, but it is hard to imagine how morality could evolve without cooperation. The evolution of morality is appropriately approached within the wider framework of the evolution of cooperation. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 17

In sum, the target article presents an exciting new approach to understanding the proximate and ultimate explanations for human morality. We believe that an integration of recent research in the area of social cognitive development both supports and enriches the understanding of “morality as an adaptation to an environment in which individuals were in competition to be chosen and recruited in mutually advantageous cooperative interactions” (target article, Abstract). — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 387

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to the reader’s stated analytical project: Rodrigues’s moral behavior under the Big God gaze, and the Japanese counter-strategy of the fumi-e as a public ritual destroyinng partner choice. The passage names the exact mechanism the fumi-e is designed to disrupt. — connects to: Big God religion and large-scale cooperation co-evolved in feedback; Morality may have evolved via partner choice over partner control — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 347; Morality evolved as a propensity for fair cost-benefit sharing among cooperators. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 266 (+21 more)
• ADDENDUM: Directly supplies the Baumard et al. partner-choice mechanism the reader’s framing cites for the fumi-e rite; supports the ‘On Sacrifice’ and companion pieces on how public ritual acts on cooperative reputation.
• SEED: The ‘offer more and be exploited, offer less and be left out’ dynamic is a crisp model for why spectacle-based tests of moral commitment arise in stratified societies.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 4; Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 17; Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 387

Related

• Morality evolved as a propensity for fair cost-benefit sharing among cooperators. (similarity 0.91)
• Morality evolves from individual partner-choice competition, not group selection. (similarity 0.90)
• Morality evolves in two steps, from selfish reciprocity to intrinsic fairness. (similarity 0.90)
• Morality may have evolved via partner choice over partner control (similarity 0.90)
• Fairness evolved as a psychological device because outside market options constrain benefit distribution. (similarity 0.90)
• A disposition to fairness can evolve even when unshared, unlike a disposition to cooperate. (similarity 0.89)
• Fairness evolves from partner choice, not partner control (similarity 0.89)
• Meritocratic fairness norms evolved as adaptations to partner-choice markets (similarity 0.88)
• Moral behavior shifts with the market supply and demand of cooperative partners (similarity 0.87)
• Partner selection produces genuine moral feelings, not just narrow self-interested cooperation. (similarity 0.87)
• Morality extends beyond fairness among strangers to relational obligations (similarity 0.87)
• A genuine moral sense evolved to secure reputation as a cooperator (similarity 0.86)
• Partner choice predicts fair cooperation while group selection predicts utilitarian cooperation. (similarity 0.86)
• Fairness evolved to distribute payoffs by input, not equally. (similarity 0.86)
• A preference for fairness can directly favor equalitarianism in cooperation. (similarity 0.86)

Broader Connections

• Morality may have evolved via partner choice over partner control #expands (0.85) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 347
• Morality evolved as a propensity for fair cost-benefit sharing among cooperators. #corroborates (0.85) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 266
• Morality evolves from individual partner-choice competition, not group selection. #expands (0.80) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 605
• Fairness evolves from partner choice, not partner control #expands (0.80) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 610
• A genuine moral sense evolved to secure reputation as a cooperator #expands (0.75) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 67
• Morality evolves in two steps, from selfish reciprocity to intrinsic fairness. #corroborates (0.75) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 73
• Meritocratic fairness norms evolved as adaptations to partner-choice markets #exemplifies (0.75) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 324