Social play behaviour. Cooperation, fairness, trust, and the evolution of morality

Author: Bekoff M.

Source: Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 8, Number 2, 2001 , pp. 81-90(10)

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Abstract:

Here I briefly discuss some comparative data on social play behaviour in hope of broadening the array of species in which researchers attempt to study animal morality. I am specifically concerned with the notion of ‘behaving fairly'. In the term ‘behaving fairly’ I use as a working guide the notion that animals often have social expectations when they engage in various sorts of social encounters the violation of which constitutes being treated unfairly because of a lapse in social etiquette. I will cash this out below in my discussion of social play behaviour.

Keywords: Play; fairness; intentionality; evolution of behavior; morality

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: University of Colorado, Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0334, USA . Email:marc.bekoff@colorado.edu

Publication date: 2001-01-01