Abstract
This paper evaluates evolutionary explanations of the portrayals of non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. The behavior of these individuals constitutes an evolutionary puzzle because it is a form of altruism that is not easily explainable by kin selection, reciprocal altruism, or group selection. Even more puzzling is the portrayal of these individuals as positive moral exemplars whose altruism is to be celebrated and replicated. The explanation put forth in this paper is based on the concept of parent-offspring conflict and the hypothesis that parents have been selected to manipulate their offspring into engaging in acts of altruism that are not in the offspring’s evolutionary interest. It proposes that both acts of altruism and the portrayal of the individuals who perform them as moral exemplars are the result of parental manipulation becoming traditional by being transmitted over many generations.
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