Human Nature: A Critical Reader

by Laura Betzig (Editor)

"Human nature" has meant many things to many people. Why do we do what we do? Before 1859, when Darwin published The Origin of Species , the meaning of "human nature" was anybody's guess. This book collects the first, classic tests of Darwinian theory on us -- including studies of traditional societies (from the !Kung of Botswana to the Ache of Paraguay), studies of modern societies (from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada to southern California), and comparative and historical studies (from the ancient Near East to imperial Rome). These classics are interspersed with new critiques -- both by the authors themselves, and by biologists who used modern Darwinian theory to pioneer field studies, cognitive studies, and comparative studies of other species. Last but not least, Human Nature adds an introduction which covers the basics in evolutionary theory, and reviews cutting-edge tests of that theory on human anatomy, physiology, emotions, thought, and interactions.
This pathbreaking book collects the best of the first tests of Darwinian theory on humans, critiques them, and comprehensively reviews the work being done now . It is an ideal - and long needed - text for courses in biology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, history, and philosophy which use Darwin's theory to explain what we do and who we are.

Genres: Evolution

512 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 1996

About the author

Laura Betzig studies despotism and democracy in history. She's looked at the comparative record; done fieldwork in the Western Pacific; and read ancient, medieval and modern history. She's published roughly 100 articles--on subjects ranging from sex in the Old Testament, to the Oedipus Complex of British kings--and she's finished 3 books: Despotism and Differential Reproduction, a Darwinian View of History; Human Reproductive Behavior, a Darwinian Perspective; and Human Nature, a Critical Reader. She's spent the last couple of decades working on a history of the West.

Betzig got a PhD in anthropology as a student of Napoleon Chagnon at Northwestern, and has taught at the University of California and the University of Michigan. She's done TV in the US and Canada, the Netherlands and the UK; and her work has been featured in print sources like Time, the Economist, New Scientist, Discover, the Atlantic and US News & World Report. She's been a contributor to the Annual Question at Edge, and blogs on the The Political Animal for Psychology Today.

Laura lives with her husband, Paul Turke, near their children and grandchildren, on Strawberry Lake.

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but does not tell me what it seems to be attempting to. She also uses quotations a lot, and does not have much of an input herself in these theories. This is entirely a word-of-mouth book. Some may like that; I like a bit of personality in writing, myself.