The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation
Human life, scientific journalist Matt Ridley suggests, is a complex balancing  act: we behave with self-interest foremost in mind, but also in ways that do not harm, and  sometimes even benefit, others. This behavior, in a strange way, makes us good. It also  makes us unique in the animal world, where self-interest is far more pronounced.  "The essential virtuousness of human beings is proved not by parallels in the  animal kingdom, but by the very lack of convincing animal parallels," Ridley  writes. How we got to be so virtuous over millions of years of evolution is the theme of  this entertaining book of popular science, which will be of interest to any student of  human nature.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.