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Are we virtuously caring or just anxious?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2023

Charlie Kurth Open the ORCID record for Charlie Kurth [Opens in a new window]
Charlie Kurth*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5328, USA charles.kurth@wmich.edu; www.charliekurth.com
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Abstract

According to Grossmann, the high levels of cooperation seen in humans are the result of a “virtuous caring cycle” on which the increased care that more fearful children receive brings increased cooperative tendencies in those children. But this proposal overlooks an equally well supported alternative on which children's anxiety – not a virtuous caring cycle – explains the cooperative tendencies of humans.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e69
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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