Philosophy of Cooperation in Institutional Design: Origins, Limitations, and Prospects

The article explores the essence of cooperation philosophy as an alternative to competitive mechanisms of social interaction. The author presents arguments concerning the potential widespread adoption of this new philosophical approach to institutional design, analyzing their validity and feasibility. The philosophical foundation of this new methodology is explored through the lens of dialectical unity between two aspects of human behavior: cooperation within social groups to ensure effective competition with other groups. The biological basis of cooperation is examined within the framework of contemporary multilevel selection theory, demonstrating that cooperative and competitive traits are typically distributed across different social levels, with their proportions fluctuating continuously during adaptation to changing conditions. The article proposes a simple theoretical framework for describing the phenomenon of cooperation, based on the hypothesis that the level of consensus in decision-making depends on the aggressiveness of social group members, which is determined by both ecological environment (external condition) and cultural attitudes (internal condition). The author discusses the prospects for the widespread implementation of the philosophy of cooperation in institutional design in the modern world. Through the analysis of anthropological data, it is shown that sustained peace among different nations and cultures is not a natural phenomenon and requires deliberate efforts to overcome inherent behavioral patterns. The possibility of cultivating a new worldview based on the philosophy of cooperation is substantiated through the integration of appropriate cultural attitudes. The conclusion drawn is that, in the near term, the widespread adoption of this model appears unlikely due to escalating geopolitical tensions and deteriorating living conditions, which lead to increased societal aggression. However, achieving this objective is feasible in the long term, allowing sufficient time for changes in the biological nature of humans.

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