Stable unconditional cooperation exists and mutualism alone cannot explain it.
Evidence
To sum up, consistent contributors exist, and it is difficult to understand their behavior in terms of mutualistic motives. Further, consistent contributors often elicit cooperation from others, and that elicited cooperation might also have an altruistic basis. We would, therefore, suggest that Baumard et al.’s mutualism framework is a very useful but not complete approach to human morality. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 411
Categorization
- DEEPTHINKING: A tidy two-sentence rebuttal: specifies the counterexample (consistent contributors), notes their side effect (eliciting altruism in others), and gives a calibrated verdict — ‘useful but not complete.’ Good model of how to concede and counter in one short passage.
- XREF: connects to: The appearance of social contract arises from evolved mutualistic obligation, not real agreement. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 83; Mutualism faces three challenges, all involving cost without visible return. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 53
Related
- Mutualism faces three challenges, all involving cost without visible return. (similarity 0.86)
- The appearance of social contract arises from evolved mutualistic obligation, not real agreement. (similarity 0.85)
- Morality is about fair cooperation, not maximizing welfare. (similarity 0.82)
- Generalized reciprocity cannot be explained by partner-control mechanisms. (similarity 0.81)
- Cooperation and morality are distinct categories. (similarity 0.80)
- Mutualism pays off through average expected benefits, not guaranteed returns (similarity 0.80)
- Morality requires mutual advantage, not strict accounting of reciprocated acts. (similarity 0.80)
- Altruistic cooperators still choose partners they trust and cooperate only where reciprocation is possible. (similarity 0.79)
- Competitive altruism permits unconditional giving rather than matched reciprocity (similarity 0.79)
- Morality evolved as a propensity for fair cost-benefit sharing among cooperators. (similarity 0.79)
- Altruism without genuine moral emotion signals unreliable future cooperation. (similarity 0.79)
- Cooperative ventures are exchanges proportional to each partner’s contribution. (similarity 0.79)
- Mutualistic cost-benefit logic may explain transcendent moral sentiment. (similarity 0.79)
- Reciprocal altruism is really mutualism, not altruism (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- The appearance of social contract arises from evolved mutualistic obligation, not real agreement.
#contradicts(0.85) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 83 - Mutualism faces three challenges, all involving cost without visible return.
#expands(0.80) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 53