Egoism and cooperation in economic development - a historical approach

Abstract

Inter-human cooperation has existed since the Paleolithic era, but its character has changed over time. Initially, it was instinctive, later forced, but nowadays it is voluntary. Already in the 18th century, Adam Smith wrote that society could not exist without cooperation. Human civilization was built by cooperating specialists supported by ever newer technologies. The subject of the article is the role of egoism and cooperation in human economic development throughout history. The research method used was a review of the literature of authors from various historical epochs, starting from antiquity and the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, the first, second and third industrial revolution, up to the present day. The conducted research has shown that cooperation affects relationships between people and helps suppress the internal egoism of man, about which St. Augustine, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Hume, Malthus and even Charles Darwin wrote. The predominance of selfish or altruistic attitudes inevitably affected the development and collapse of many countries and even civilizations.