The Evolution of Cooperation

Blurb

The evolution of cooperation can refer to:
the study of how cooperation can emerge and persist as elucidated by application of game theory,
a 1981 paper by political scientist Robert Axelrod and evolutionary biologist W. D. Hamilton in the scientific literature, or
a 1984 book by Axelrod that expanded on the paper and popularized the study.
This article is an introduction to how game theory and computer modeling are illuminating certain aspects of moral and political philosophy, particularly the role of individuals in groups, the "biology of selfishness and altruism", and how cooperation can be evolutionarily advantageous.