Altruism

In The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, Bruce D. Perry presents altruism as a defining and underappreciated human trait, set explicitly against the Darwinian cliché of competition. As the book puts it, “Evolutionists had long emphasized ‘nature, red in tooth and claw,’ but a view that focused on the competition of the fittest for survival missed one of the most fascinating and important characteristics of humans and quite a few other species: the propensity for altruism.” Perry’s larger argument is that this propensity is not automatic — like Empathy, the giving and kind behaviors that altruism expresses must be cultivated through relationship.

The book grounds this developmentally: “In order for a child to become kind, giving and empathetic, he needs to be treated that way. Punishment can’t create or model those qualities.” A child “raised with love wants to make those around him happy because he sees that his happiness makes them happy” — altruism arising from a positive feedback loop rather than from compliance to avoid punishment. The concept thus connects to Perry’s central thesis that relationships are the engine of healthy development.

Context: Altruism — behavior that benefits others at a cost to oneself — is studied across evolutionary biology, psychology, and ethics. The contrast Perry draws (“nature, red in tooth and claw” vs. cooperative/altruistic tendencies) echoes a long debate about whether evolution selects purely for selfish competition.

Where this appears

• The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog — altruism framed against “nature, red in tooth and claw” as a defining human propensity that is learned through being treated with kindness