The Selfish Gene

What is this book about?

In this 1976 bestseller, Richard Dawkins proposes a disruptive view: the central character of life is not the individual or the species but the gene. Bodies are vehicles for genes to copy and carry on, and much human behaviour — including apparently noble altruism — rests on biological instincts for a gene's survival. Explaining evolution in a minimal, reductionist way, and placing human behaviour back in the animal evolutionary story, the book has long been read as a landmark of anti-humanist thought.

Why read it?

It is a landmark of scientific minimalism and reductionism, and for many readers the starting point for rethinking whether humans are a special kind of animal. Dawkins writes clearly and sharply, and the reading is not hard; what is hard is accepting his angle — once a person is a vehicle for genes, claims about free will, spirituality, and human dignity have to be weighed again. It may not convince you, but it will very likely unsettle you.

Core Ideas

• Life is a vehicle for genes to copy and carry on; the individual body is a gene's transport.
• Behind apparently noble human behaviour there is often a biological instinct for a gene's survival.
• Seen from the gene's point of view, individuals and species fall into the background.
• This reductionist explanation unsettles traditional ideas of free will and spirituality.

What questions does this book try to answer?

• If the gene is the main character, is there any essential difference between humans and animals?
• Is free will a genuine freedom, or an illusion produced by evolution?
• Do you really need freedom and rights — can they be reduced to biological instinct?

Who should read it?

For readers drawn to evolutionary biology and to reductionism and anti-humanist currents of thought. No biology background is required, but you must be willing to take on an uncomfortable angle; if you want science to underwrite human dignity, this book does the opposite.

How to Read It

Published in 1976, a classic bestseller in evolutionary biology and the best-known popular version of the gene's-eye view. Keep two things apart: Dawkins is offering an explanatory framework, not endorsing selfish behaviour — he himself stresses that understanding the selfishness of genes does not mean people ought to be selfish. The argument is clear and full of metaphor and can be read by chapter. Its anti-humanist bent is strong and easily provokes; read a critic alongside, such as Wilson's The Meaning of Human Existence.