The Summer school will take place in Trento, 27 June – 8 July 2011
Intensive course in Evolution of Social Preferences

Guest lecturers include: Werner Gueth, Max Planck Institute, Jena – Honorary lecturer, Sam Bowles, Santa Fe Institute and University of Siena, Simon Gaechter, University of Nottingham, Ugo Pagano, University of Siena, J. Peter Richerson, University of California Davis, Luigi Bonatti, University of Trento, Rosaria Conte, ISTC-CNR, Rome.

Human choices are driven not just by direct material self-interest, but also by moral sentiments such as guilt and shame, love and respect, and by the urge to help friends and to punish miscreants. Such sentiments give traction to group norms, or moral codes—-our shared understanding of proper behavior. Revealed social preferences arise from the interaction of moral sentiments and group norms.

It is crucial to understand social preferences because they undergird the institutions that have always shaped our world, from ancient tribal gatherings, through classic city-states, down to our modern market, political and legal systems.

The 2011 Trento Summer School will trace the coevolution of moral sentiments, group norms and social institutions. Drawing on recent insights from biology, evolutionary psychology, moral philosophy, neuroscience and anthropology as well as experimental economics and institutional economics, the summer school lecturers will trace how

biological evolution shaped our capacities for moral sentiments,
cultural evolution gives content to other-regarding preferences, and
institutions and norms co-evolve; and will note many implications for the modern world.

For any information see the Website