A Cooperative Species: A Lecture on Darwinism and Economics

Professor of Economics Herbert Gintis will give a lecture in Groningen about Darwinism and Economics on Tuesday, November 10. Chairman of the evening will be Wilfred Dolfsma , professor of Innovation at the FEB. After Gintis’ lecture, young PhD researchers, among whom expert on corporate strategy at the FEB Killian McCarthy , will give a first reaction, after which the audience can ask questions.

Herbert Gintis, Professor of Economics at the Santa Fe Institute and the Central European University, explores why people cooperate in joint projects for the benefit of one’s group, even at personal costs. And why do we punish those who exploit the cooperation? How did evolution stimulate moral behaviour such as altruism and social control?

"Darwin Today"

The lecture is part of the series of the RuG’s Studium Generale: "Darwin Today - The Power of Evolutionary Thinking". In this series, six internationally renowned scientists from various disciplines talk about the influence the evolution theory has had on their research and scientific thinking.

No scientific theory has influenced our thinking about nature and ourselves so dramatically as Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. The publication of Darwin’s famous work The Origin of Species, 150 years ago, caused a conceptual landslide in the history of scientific thinking. Not only did Darwin’s theory have a strong impact on the field of biology and life sciences, it also affected our thinking on various topics, such as language, culture, religion, human consciousness and behaviour. In Darwin Year 2009 we explore how, in recent decades, Darwinism has affected the way of thinking in various scientific areas such as psychology, theology, linguistics, palaeontology, economics and political sciences.

Darwinism & Economics - A Cooperative Species: Human Reciprocity and its Evolution

A lecture by Herbert Gintis
Tuesday 10  November, 2009
8 - 9.30 p.m.
Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

ADMISSION: For students and SG-members admission is free. Others pay: € 2,50