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This chapter provides an introduction to the main theoretical principles employed throughout this volume. It presents an overview of contemporary evolutionary theory, emphasizing the explanatory logic of natural selection. The chapter describes the complexities imposed by the hierarchical organization of living systems and the techniques currently used to analyze the evolution of social interactions. It examines selected theoretical and methodological issues in the social sciences. The chapter gives methodological individualism and rational choice, topics that provide natural avenues for linking social theory and evolutionary ecology. It summarizes the general principles of simple optimization analysis, a framework commonly employed in both evolutionary ecology and the social sciences. The chapter pays special attention to problems that can arise in applying optimization methods in an evolutionary context. Natural selection results from the interaction between a population of organisms and the environment.