The Evolutionary Path of the Law

Indonesian Journal of International Law, vol. 1, no. 3 (July 2014), Forthcoming

18 Pages Posted: 4 Jun 2014 Last revised: 22 Jul 2014

See all articles by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico; University of Central Florida

Date Written: July 1, 2014

Abstract

What lessons can legal scholars learn from the life and work of W. D. "Bill" Hamilton, a lifelong student of nature? From my small corner of academia, three aspects of Bill Hamilton’s work in evolutionary biology stand out in particular: (i) Hamilton’s simple and beautiful model of social behavior in terms of costs and benefits; (ii) his fruitful collaboration with the political theorist Robert Axelrod and their unexpected yet elegant solution of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, an important game or puzzle that had defied solution until Hamilton and Axelrod came along; and (iii) Hamilton’s conception of science generally -- and in particular his view of the process of scientific justification -- as a form of trial advocacy. In this review of Ullica Segerstråle’s recently-published biography of Bill Hamilton, the author briefly recounts and reviews each one of these important contributions.

Keywords: Altruism, Cooperation, Prisoner's Dilemma, Law, Science

JEL Classification: B31, Y30, Z19

Suggested Citation

Guerra-Pujol, F. E., The Evolutionary Path of the Law (July 1, 2014). Indonesian Journal of International Law, vol. 1, no. 3 (July 2014), Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2444755 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2444755

F. E. Guerra-Pujol (Contact Author)

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico ( email )

University of Central Florida ( email )

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