Author: Frans de Waal
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691169160
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230
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Book Description
Can virtuous behavior be explained by nature, and not by human rational choice? "It's the animal in us," we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality. In this provocative book, renowned primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our "selfish" genes and reinforcing our habit of labeling ethical behavior as humane and the less civilized as animalistic. Seeking the origin of human morality not in evolution but in human culture, science insists that we are moral by choice, not by nature. Citing remarkable evidence based on his extensive research of primate behavior, de Waal attacks "Veneer Theory," which posits morality as a thin overlay on an otherwise nasty nature. He explains how we evolved from a long line of animals that care for the weak and build cooperation with reciprocal transactions. Drawing on Darwin, recent scientific advances, and his extensive research of primate behavior, de Waal demonstrates a strong continuity between human and animal behavior. He probes issues such as anthropomorphism and human responsibilities toward animals. His compelling account of how human morality evolved out of mammalian society will fascinate anyone who has ever wondered about the origins and reach of human goodness. Based on the Tanner Lectures de Waal delivered at Princeton University's Center for Human Values in 2004, Primates and Philosophers includes responses by the philosophers Peter Singer, Christine M. Korsgaard, and Philip Kitcher and the science writer Robert Wright. They press de Waal to clarify the differences between humans and other animals, yielding a lively debate that will fascinate all those who wonder about the origins and reach of human goodness.
Author: Frans B. M. DE WAAL
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674033175
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369
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Book Description
To observe a dog's guilty look. to witness a gorilla's self-sacrifice for a wounded mate, to watch an elephant herd's communal effort on behalf of a stranded calf--to catch animals in certain acts is to wonder what moves them. Might there he a code of ethics in the animal kingdom? Must an animal be human to he humane? In this provocative book, a renowned scientist takes on those who have declared ethics uniquely human Making a compelling case for a morality grounded in biology, he shows how ethical behavior is as much a matter of evolution as any other trait, in humans and animals alike. World famous for his brilliant descriptions of Machiavellian power plays among chimpanzees-the nastier side of animal life--Frans de Waal here contends that animals have a nice side as well. Making his case through vivid anecdotes drawn from his work with apes and monkeys and holstered by the intriguing, voluminous data from his and others' ongoing research, de Waal shows us that many of the building blocks of morality are natural: they can he observed in other animals. Through his eyes, we see how not just primates but all kinds of animals, from marine mammals to dogs, respond to social rules, help each other, share food, resolve conflict to mutual satisfaction, even develop a crude sense of justice and fairness. Natural selection may be harsh, but it has produced highly successful species that survive through cooperation and mutual assistance. De Waal identifies this paradox as the key to an evolutionary account of morality, and demonstrates that human morality could never have developed without the foundation of fellow feeling our species shares with other animals. As his work makes clear, a morality grounded in biology leads to an entirely different conception of what it means to he human--and humane.
Author: Jeffrey Schloss
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191615803
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 384
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Book Description
Over the last two decades, scientific accounts of religion have received a great deal of scholarly and popular attention both because of their intrinsic interest and because they are widely seen as potentially constituting a threat to the religion they analyse. The Believing Primate aims to describe and discuss these scientific accounts as well as to assess their implications. The volume begins with essays by leading scientists in the field, describing these accounts and discussing evidence in their favour. Philosophical and theological reflections on these accounts follow, offered by leading philosophers, theologians, and scientists. This diverse group of scholars address some fascinating underlying questions: Do scientific accounts of religion undermine the justification of religious belief? Do such accounts show religion to be an accidental by-product of our evolutionary development? And, whilst we seem naturally disposed toward religion, would we fare better or worse without it? Bringing together dissenting perspectives, this provocative collection will serve to freshly illuminate ongoing debate on these perennial questions.
Author: Henry Cabot Lodge (Jr.)
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393073777
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 313
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Book Description
Moral behavior does not begin and end with religion but is in fact a product of evolution.
Author: P. Segerdahl
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230513387
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 239
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Book Description
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's work on the language capabilities of the bonobo Kanzi has intrigued the world because of its far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of the human language. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of the filmed language tests. It argues that while the tests prove that Kanzi has language, the even more remarkable manner in which he originally acquired it - spontaneously, in a culture shared with humans - calls for a re-thinking of language, emphasizing its primal cultural dimensions.
Author: Mary Midgley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113482694X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 220
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Book Description
In The Ethical Primate, Mary Midgley, 'one of the sharpest critical pens in the West' according to the Times Literary Supplement, addresses the fundamental question of human freedom. Scientists and philosophers have found it difficult to understand how each human-being can be a living part of the natural world and still be free. Midgley explores their responses to this seeming paradox and argues that our evolutionary origin explains both why and how human freedom and morality have come about.
Author: Alfred L. Rosenberger
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691143641
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
"This book is a broad synthesis of new world monkey evolution, integrating their unique evolutionary story into the bigger picture of primate evolution and Amazon biodiversity. Capsule For more than 30 million years, New World monkeys have inhabited the forests of South and Central America. Whether these primates originally came from Africa by rafting across the Atlantic or crossing overland from North America, they soon flourished. This book tells the story of these New World monkeys. Integrating data from fossil and living animals, it explores the evolution of the three major New World monkey lineages as well as how they fit into the broader story of primate evolution and Amazon biodiversity. After providing readers with necessary background in primate taxonomy and systematics, Rosenberger shows that the notion of adaptive zones is central to our understanding of primate evolution. The idea of adaptive zones can explain how radiations evolve, morphological adaptations appear, and communities form. From here, Rosenberger synthesizes what is known about New World monkeys' unique ecological adaptations, including those involving feeding and locomotion, as well as their social behaviour. The book's concluding chapters explore theories of how primates first arrived in South America and what their future looks like given the threat of extinction. Biography Internal Use Only Alfred L. Rosenberger is Professor Emeritus of Biological Anthropology at Brooklyn College. An expert on the origin and evolution of New World Monkeys, Rosenberger has contributed numerous articles in edited volumes and his work is published in journals such as Nature, Journal of Human Evolution and American Journal of Primatology . Audience The audience for this book is scholars and graduate students in biological/physical anthropolog and primatology, and to a lesser extent conservation biology, evolutionary biology, and behavioral ecology . Rationale - no copy text Other Relevant Info - no copy text"--
Author: Kristin Andrews
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262017555
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 307
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Book Description
Andrews argues for a pluralistic folk psychology that employs different kinds of practices and different kinds of cognitive tools (including personality trait attribution, stereotype activation, inductive reasoning about past behavior, and generalization from self) that are involved in our folk psychological practices.
Author: Lynn Hankinson Nelson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107090180
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279
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Book Description
A balanced and accessible introduction to the engagements that feminist scientists and science scholars undertake with a variety of biological sciences.
Author: Robert W. Lurz
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262297418
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 264
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Book Description
A comprehensive examination of a hotly debated question proposes a new model for mindreading in animals and a new experimental approach. Animals live in a world of other minds, human and nonhuman, and their well-being and survival often depends on what is going on in the minds of these other creatures. But do animals know that other creatures have minds? And how would we know if they do? In Mindreading Animals, Robert Lurz offers a fresh approach to the hotly debated question of mental-state attribution in nonhuman animals. Some empirical researchers and philosophers claim that some animals are capable of anticipating other creatures' behaviors by interpreting observable cues as signs of underlying mental states; others claim that animals are merely clever behavior-readers, capable of using such cues to anticipate others' behaviors without interpreting them as evidence of underlying mental states. Lurz argues that neither position is compelling and proposes a way to move the debate, and the field, forward. Lurz offers a bottom-up model of mental-state attribution that is built on cognitive abilities that animals are known to possess rather than on a preconceived view of the mind applicable to mindreading abilities in humans. Lurz goes on to describe an innovative series of new experimental protocols for animal mindreading research that show in detail how various types of animals—from apes to monkeys to ravens to dogs—can be tested for perceptual state and belief attribution.
