Altruism and Rational Choice Theory

Abstract

Emiliana Mangone's book is a largely successful attempt to provide a new perspective on the theory of altruism. She presents a comprehensive overview of the sociological interpretations of altruism and then offers her own version of the theory in the form of ethics of responsibility. There is certain ambiguity in her argumentation concerning the applicability of the rational choice theory to explaining and justifying altruism as a feasible and practically efficient idea. However, this uncertainty can be resolved in favor of rationality as an essential part of altruistic behavior. Altruism as an organized practice involving large groups necessarily includes rational deliberation as a key factor to its success. For instance, Elinor Ostrom uses the "prisoners' dilemma" framework in her analysis of how various communities across the world tried to deal with the common-pool resources problem. In successful cases, as her findings show, communities acted in the manner close to Mangone’s ethics of responsibility.