Lecturer examines character traits shared by humans, voles and vampire bats

November 7, 2008

The Wake Forest University Department of Philosophy will present a lecture titled “Voles, Vampire Bats and Character Traits” by University of Notre Dame philosophy professor Michael DePaul at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 13 in Tribble Hall’s Philosophy Library, Room B316. 

In his talk, DePaul will examine character traits shared by humans, voles and vampire bats.  “I’ll examine some recent work from biology on voles and human beings that suggests there is a genetic component for monogamy in males,” he says. “I’ll then turn to work on altruism, specifically the theory of reciprocal altruism, which is nicely illustrated by some behavior of vampire bats. Reciprocal altruism plays a fundamental role in evolutionary psychology.”

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Press Contacts:

Audrey Fannin
(336) 758-5237


Kevin Cox
(336) 758-5237