LOVE FOR THE NEIGHBOR IN THE PLEISTOCENE AND TODAY

If the problem of human nature in psychological and social sciences ha s got indeed the character of paradigm, it should be openly admitted a nd solved, however difficult it might be. The most widely spread parad igm is that of egoism. Selfishness is ascribed to man (explicitly or i mplicitly) as a substantial (if not the only one) final determinant of his/her mentality. What kind of help can we expect from the new scien tific discipline - evolutionary psychology? Evolutionary psychology as ks what was the mental outfit of primary man that enabled him to solve problems in his/her original environment; i.e., in the environment to which he/she was adapted in the evolutionary process. And, further on , how does the original, evolutionarily stabilized mental outfit of ma n make itself useful in the present, fairly different environment? Alt ruism (between relatives and above all the reciprocal one) is a theme to which evolutionary psychologists pay great attention. The rise of t he reciprocal altruism as an evolutionary stabilized strategy is condi tioned by systematic, consistent and repeated exchange of roles ''give r'' and ''receiver''. The reciprocity of utility in the evolutionary p rocess is controlled by the individual's reproductional success. The u ltimate cause of the reciprocal altruism has got, therefore, the unamb iguous character of individualism. On the other hand, the proximal mec hanisms (motivation, emotions, feelings) arisen in the evolutionary pr ocess of the reciprocal altruism, as well as by them generated behavio ur have got an unambiguous orientation at other individuals, and that positively - in the form of help or even self-sacrifice (devotion), co operation. The development of the reciprocal altruism took place in Ho minids several million years before the emergency of articulated speec h. The enlarging brain of Hominids was - most probably - the result of natural selection of individuals, more capable to realize the recipro cal altruism with a long time range, with a large individual different iation, with refined proportions of interchangeability, and to defend it against the ''cheaters''. As a further evolutionary step, the emerg ency of the oughtness dimension, the basic stone of human gift of mora lity, is considered. Face to face with the puzzle character of social intricacy, a successful individual was that one, who had got ''inbuilt '' well-tried cluse of what to do. The morality, in fact, functions - being effective just because of the fact that it has got an additive d imension of oughtness that enables to overcome - in actual situation - the barrier of egoistic desires, to disengage from them, and to help the others.