A cooperative species

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Kristen Renwick Monroe

The Heart of Altruism explores the causes of altruism and asks what makes altruists different from other people. Through a careful narrative analysis of moving interviews with philanthropists, heroes, and rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe, Kristen Monroe rejects traditional explanations of altruism and argues that altruists have a different way of viewing the world. Where the rest of us see a stranger, altruists see a fellow human being. While factors as diverse as religion and genetics may contribute to the existence and development of what Monroe identifies as an altruistic perspective, it is the perspective itself that constitutes the heart of altruism. Monroe moves beyond discussing altruism as a substantive phenomenon, however, to treat altruism as an analytical tool to examine the widespread assumption that normal human behavior consists of the pursuit of individual self-interest. This assumption underpins many public policies and academic disciplines from economics and evolutionary biology to psychology, and permeates social science through rational choice theory. Monroe debunks the notions of scientific inevitability that stem from an overemphasis on self-interest, arguing that self-interest may form a useful starting point for explicating human behavior but leaves unexplained many important forms of human action. Her insightful analysis of the limitations of theories based on self-interest is complemented by the presentation of her own theory of ethical political behavior, a theory that suggests it is how we see ourselves in relation to others that sets and delineates the range of options we find available, both empirically and morally.

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William F. Allman

Why do we desire one person rather than another as a mate? How are we able to live together in large groups? Why do we react in anger to infidelity? Why do we love music and art? All of these human characteristics are rooted in the distant past, as William F. Allman informs us in The Stone Age Present. Reporting on cutting-edge ideas from the frontiers of research in such disciplines as anthropology, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, and artificial intelligence - Allman shows how our minds evolved in response to challenges faced by our prehistoric ancestors. And he reveals how our brains continue to harbor that long-ago legacy in the present day. Scientists speculate that countless problems of contemporary life, from individuals being overweight to nations waging war, result because our "Stone Age minds" haven't caught up with our overcrowded, technologically sophisticated world. Our emotional responses, sexual preferences, and all other aspects of modern-day behavior are still playing out the evolutionary legacy of our ancient ancestors. But at a time when society is increasingly concerned about values, this book also shows how morality is not the result of arbitrary convention but stems from our need to cooperate, which has been essential to our successful evolution as a species. By a leading proponent of science for the general reader, this illuminating book moves beyond the "nature vs. nurture" debate to provide a challenging and indispensable guide to understanding the ancient origins of our modern psyche.

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[by] Lionel Tiger & Robin Fox

"The Imperial Animal offers a compelling perspective on the controversy over humans and their biology. This now-classic study is about the social bonds that hold us together and the antisocial theories that drive us apart. The authors divulge how the evolutionary past of the species, reflected in genetic codes, determines our present and coerces our future. This book gives us a direct and intimate look at how we see ourselves. It offers insight into our politics, our ways of learning and teaching, reproducing and producing, playing and fighting. The authors assert that the purpose of this book is twofold: to describe what is known about the evolution of human behavior, and then to try to show how the consequences of this evolution affect our behavior today. To do this they draw from numerous disciplines--zoology, biology, history, and primatology, among others. In the new introduction, Tiger and Fox outline then- reasons for originally writing the book as well as the process they used to do their research. The Imperial Animal is a classic work that will continue to be of interest to sociologists, zoologists, biologists, and primatologists."--Provided by publisher.

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Phillip Brian Harper

In 1995, popular anxieties about black masculinity became evident in public reactions to the conclusion of the OJ Simpson trial and the Million Man March on Washington. The nation's divided response to the OJ verdict, together with the controversy surrounding Louis Farrakhan's call to black men to come together for a "day of atonement", brought issues of race and gender to the forefront of national debate. In his timely and incisive book Are We Not Men? Phillip Brian Harper explores issues of race and representation and shows that ideas about black masculinity have always played a troubled role both in the formation of African-American identity and in the mass media at large. Using examples from a variety of cultural contests, ranging from sports and pop music to literature and television, Harper shows the ways in which narrow definitions of black manhood have failed to acknowledge real differences within the African-American community - to grave social and political effect.