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The Origins of Human Nature

Author: David F. Bjorklund

Publisher: Amer Psychological Assn

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 9781557988782

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.

Biology, Evolution, and Human Nature

Author: Timothy H. Goldsmith

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2000-11-16

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 0471182192

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This book uses evolution as the unifying theme to trace the connections between levels of biological complexity from genes through nervous systems, animal societies, and human cultures. It examines the history of evolutionary theory from Darwin to the present, including: the impact of molecular biology and the emergence of evolutionary social theory.

Beyond Evolution

Author: Anthony O'Hear

Publisher: Clarendon Press

Published: 1997-10-09

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 0191519669

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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

Author: Carel van Schaik

Publisher:

Published: 2016-05-24

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 0465074707

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"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.

The Origin of Human Nature

Author: Albert Low

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13:

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Offers an original way to integrate spiritual and scientific views of human evolution. This work offers an alternative to the way we think about our origins: random mutation (mechanistic neo-Darwinism), Genesis (God did it all personally), and Intelligent Design (God personally does what we can't otherwise account for).

The Social Evolution of Human Nature

Author: Harry Smit

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-04-03

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1107055199

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Harry Smit examines the elements of current evolutionary theory and how they bear on the evolution of the human mind.

Essential Building Blocks of Human Nature

Author: Ulrich J. Frey

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-11-08

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 364213968X

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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.