Altruistic Animals: Compatible With Evolution? The humanistic
sociologist Auguste Comte coined the term “altruism,” derived
from the Italian altrui, which means “other” (Rhode, 2005).
Under Comte’s definition, altruism signified an unselfish regard
for the welfare of others (Rhode, 2005). People are not entirely
self-interested. If they were, then families would be
nonexistent. Yet, 90 percent of Americans marry (Coltrane,
44:395). Modern instances of what we generally call altruism
abound. For an example of obvious altruism on a grand scale,
over $4.25 billion was raised for Hurricane Katrina-related
relief and recovery (“Hurricane...,” 2006). The animal world
also is filled with animals that appear to help other creatures.
Eduardo Porter noted in The New York Times, “altruism isn’t an
exclusively human trait. Vampire bats are pretty altruistic,
too, regurgitating blood for members of the group that haven’t
eaten. Sterile worker bees, which are incapable of conscious
thought, let alone moral behavior, are ab