The Primate Origins of Human Nature

The Primate Origins of Human Nature PDF Author: Carel P. Van Schaik
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470147636
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Primate Origins of Human Nature (Volume 3 in The Foundations of Human Biology series) blends several elements from evolutionary biology as applied to primate behavioral ecology and primate psychology, classical physical anthropology and evolutionary psychology of humans. However, unlike similar books, it strives to define the human species relative to our living and extinct relatives, and thus highlights uniquely derived human features. The book features a truly multi-disciplinary, multi-theory, and comparative species approach to subjects not usually presented in textbooks focused on humans, such as the evolution of culture, life history, parenting, and social organization.

The Primate Origins of Human Nature

The Primate Origins of Human Nature PDF Author: Carel P. Van Schaik
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470147636
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Primate Origins of Human Nature (Volume 3 in The Foundations of Human Biology series) blends several elements from evolutionary biology as applied to primate behavioral ecology and primate psychology, classical physical anthropology and evolutionary psychology of humans. However, unlike similar books, it strives to define the human species relative to our living and extinct relatives, and thus highlights uniquely derived human features. The book features a truly multi-disciplinary, multi-theory, and comparative species approach to subjects not usually presented in textbooks focused on humans, such as the evolution of culture, life history, parenting, and social organization.

The Origins of Human Nature

The Origins of Human Nature PDF Author: David F. Bjorklund
Publisher: Amer Psychological Assn
ISBN: 9781557988782
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 444

Get Book Here

Book Description
The origins of human nature offers readers the first book-length attempt to define the field of evolutionary developmental psychology -- the application of the principle of natural selection to explain contemporary human development. The authors point out that an evolutionary -- developmental perspective allows one to view gene -- environment interactions, the significance of individual differences, and the role of behavior and development in evolution in much greater depth. The authors also focus on how an evolutionary perspective can foster a better understanding of human development and how developmental processes may have influenced the course of human evolution. Of particular interest are chapters that explore factors influencing parenting and other aspects of family life; the role of play; and the interacting roles of an extended juvenile period, a big brain, and a complex social structure in human cognitive evolution. The authors present a hybrid approach to evolution and development, pointing out that though underlying assumptions held by evolutionary and developmental psychologists have been at odds, each field has much to offer the other.

Hierarchy, History, and Human Nature

Hierarchy, History, and Human Nature PDF Author: Donald E. Brown
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816510603
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 406

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Here is a book that I can strongly recommend for a variety of reasons. It is well written, it is scholarly, but its greatest appeal lies in the posing of an important question and in the offering of a satisfying (to this reviewer, at least) answer."ÑJournal of Historical Geography "This is an intriguing and stimulating study of historical differences in the indigenous historiography of parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe."ÑAmerican Anthropologist."

Human Nature and the Evolution of Society

Human Nature and the Evolution of Society PDF Author: Stephen Sanderson
Publisher: Westview Press
ISBN: 0813349362
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 466

Get Book Here

Book Description
Drawing on evolutionary psychology, sociobiology, and human behavioral ecology, this introduction to human behavior and the organization of social life explores the evolutionary dynamics underlying social life.

Beyond Evolution

Beyond Evolution PDF Author: Anthony O'Hear
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191519669
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 231

Get Book Here

Book Description
Anthony O'Hear takes a stand against the fashion for explaining human behaviour in terms of evolution. He maintains, controversially, that while the theory of evolution is successful in explaining the development of the natural world in general, it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and our rationality we take on goals and ideals which cannot be justified in terms of survival-promotion or reproductive advantage. O'Hear examines the nature of human self-consciousness, and argues that evolutionary theory cannot give a satisfactory account of such distinctive facets of human life as the quest for knowledge, moral sense, and the appreciation of beauty; in these we transcend our biological origins. It is our rationality that allows each of us to go beyond not only our biological but also our cultural inheritance: as the author says in the Preface, 'we are prisoners neither of our genes nor of the ideas we encounter as we each make our personal and individual way through life'.

The Good Book of Human Nature

The Good Book of Human Nature PDF Author: Carel van Schaik
Publisher:
ISBN: 0465074707
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 482

Get Book Here

Book Description
"In The Good Book of Human Nature, evolutionary anthropologist Carel van Schaik and historian Kai Michel advance a new view of Homo sapiens' cultural evolution. The Bible, they argue, was written to make sense of the single greatest change in history: the transition from egalitarian hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies. Religion arose as a strategy to cope with the unprecedented levels of epidemic disease, violence, inequality, and injustice that confronted us when we abandoned the bush--and which still confront us today, "--Amazon.com.

Essential Building Blocks of Human Nature

Essential Building Blocks of Human Nature PDF Author: Ulrich J. Frey
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364213968X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Get Book Here

Book Description
To understand why we humans are as we are, it is necessary to look at the essential building blocks that comprise our nature. The foundations of this structure are our evolutionary origins as primates and our social roots. Upon these rest features such as our emotions, language and aesthetic preferences, with our self-perceptions, self-deceptions and thirst for knowledge right at the top. The unifying force holding these blocks together is evolutionary theory. Evolution provides a deeper understanding of human nature and, in particular, of the common roots of these different perspectives. To build a reliable and coherent model of man, leading authors from fields as diverse as primatology, anthropology, neurobiology and philosophy have joined forces to present essays each describing their own expert perspective. Together they provide a convincing and complete picture of our own human nature.

The Better Angels of Our Nature

The Better Angels of Our Nature PDF Author: Steven Pinker
Publisher: Penguin Books
ISBN: 0143122010
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 834

Get Book Here

Book Description
Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think this is the most violent age ever seen. Yet as bestselling author Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true.

Conversations on Human Nature

Conversations on Human Nature PDF Author: Agustín Fuentes
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315431521
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Get Book Here

Book Description
Based on interviews with twenty leading scholars, Conversations on Human Nature probes the question of what it means to be human from evolutionary, biological, philosophical, cultural, and theological points of view.

Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference

Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference PDF Author: Justin E. H. Smith
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691176345
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 309

Get Book Here

Book Description
People have always been xenophobic, but an explicit philosophical and scientific view of human racial difference only began to emerge during the modern period. Why and how did this happen? Surveying a range of philosophical and natural-scientific texts, dating from the Spanish Renaissance to the German Enlightenment, Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference charts the evolution of the modern concept of race and shows that natural philosophy, particularly efforts to taxonomize and to order nature, played a crucial role. Smith demonstrates how the denial of moral equality between Europeans and non-Europeans resulted from converging philosophical and scientific developments, including a declining belief in human nature's universality and the rise of biological classification. The racial typing of human beings grew from the need to understand humanity within an all-encompassing system of nature, alongside plants, minerals, primates, and other animals. While racial difference as seen through science did not arise in order to justify the enslavement of people, it became a rationalization and buttress for the practices of trans-Atlantic slavery. From the work of François Bernier to G. W. Leibniz, Immanuel Kant, and others, Smith delves into philosophy's part in the legacy and damages of modern racism. With a broad narrative stretching over two centuries, Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference takes a critical historical look at how the racial categories that we divide ourselves into came into being.