Malthus and Darwin

[Rakesh Bhandari]

>     Whereas Huxley launched the long tradition of interpreting Darwin's
>     theory of natural selection as survival of the fittest individuals
>     within a species in mortal combat and combat for sexual partners,
>     Kropotkin interpreted Darwin's theory in terms of species survival in
>     which an effective tendency toward what Kropotkin termed "mutual aid"
>     among species members would enhance the probability of survival of a
>     species.  

Via Robin Hahnel, William  raises the unit of selection problem. And the
answer may be neither the individual nor the group for example. Let us not
forget the real challenge to human vanity--that each of us is at least
as far as evolution is concerned a biodegradable piece of packaging for
our *genes*, as Christoper Babcock puts it in his Evolution and Individual
Behavior. 
best, rakesh