It is a central claim of the New Atheists that evolutionary theory disproves theism and demonstrates the truth of metaphysical naturalism. This book examines this claim and explores the implications of evolutionary theory for metaphysics.
The Wrong Ape for Early Human Origins examines ways in which the chimpanzee referential model has exerted a primary influence on evolutionary theory, dominating portraits of proto- and early human social life, and in the broader sense, of human nature itself. Evidence on which this model is based is revisited, along with new cross-disciplinary ......
Sharing rich findings uncovered in recent decades from research in skeletal biomechanics, Functional Inference in Paleoanthropology examines how bone adapts over the lifespan, what environmental factors influence its quality, and how developmental constraints limit the skeleton's adaptive potential over evolutionary time.
Revealing the secrets of reptilian social relationships through original quantitative research, field studies, laboratory experiments, and careful analysis of the literature, The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles elevates these fascinating animals to key players in the science of behavioral ecology.
Why Special Brains Appear in Hominids and Other Social Animals
This book examines why humans have big brains and how brains are associated with complex society and behavior in other animals. It compares brain evolution in social animals and examines the evolution of the human brain in social and historical contexts.
By blending serious research with relevant contemporary examples, Our Political Nature casts important light on the ideological clashes that so dangerously divide and imperil our world today. It shows how political orientations arise from three clusters of measurable personality traits that entail opposing attitudes toward tribalism, inequality, ......
In Uncivilised Genes: Human Evolution and the Urban Paradox, Gustav Milne explores how we can reconfigure our lifestyles and urban environments, based on an understanding of our prehistoric past, in order to bring about a richer future for mankind.
We evolved as hunter-gatherers over a period of more than three ......
In his Descent of Man, Charles Darwin placed sympathy at the crux of morality in a civilized human society. His idea buttressed the belief that white, upper-class, educated men deserved their sense of superiority by virtue of good breeding. It also implied that societal progress could be steered by envisioning a new blueprint for sympathy ......
Offers an exploration into how our ability to learn makes humans and human nature unique. This title explores how evolution has endowed us with extremely versatile bodies and a brain of 100 billion neurons, making us especially suited for a range of sophisticated learning.