Queller, David

David Queller is an evolutionary biologist at Washington University in St. Louis whose work on social evolution and cooperation has implications for understanding altruism and purpose in nature. While primarily focused on empirical research in evolutionary biology, particularly the evolution of cooperation and conflict in social organisms, his contributions to "In the Light of Evolution V: Cooperation and Conflict" (2011) engage with broader questions about the emergence of complexity and apparent design in biological systems. His research on kin selection, inclusive fitness, and the evolution of multicellularity addresses fundamental questions about how cooperative behaviors arise from competitive evolutionary processes. Though not directly engaged in philosophy of religion, Queller's work contributes to naturalistic explanations of phenomena traditionally attributed to divine design, offering scientific accounts of altruism, cooperation, and biological purposiveness that intersect with theological discussions about teleology and the nature of creation.