Explaining Altruism: A Simulation-based Approach and Its Limits

Employing computer simulations to study the evolution of altruism has been popular since Axelrods The Evolution of Cooperation. But have the myriads of simulation studies that followed in Axelrods footsteps really increased our knowledge about the evolution of altruism or cooperation? This book examines in detail the working mechanisms of simulation-based evolutionary explanations of altruism. It shows that the theoretical insights derived from simulation studies are often quite arbitrary and of little use for empirical research. In the final chapter, a set of epistemological requirements for computer simulations is proposed with recommendations for the proper research design of simulation studies.