Author: Harmon R. Holcomb III Publisher: State University of New York Press ISBN: 1438406940 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 478
Book Description
This book examines sociobiology's validity and significance, using the sociobiological theory of the evolution of mating and parenting as an example. It identifies and discusses the array of factors that determine sociobiology's effort to become a science, providing a rare, balanced account—more critical than that of its advocates and more constructive than that of its critics. It sees a role for sociobiology in changing the way we understand the goals of evolutionary biology, the proper way to evaluate emerging sciences, and the deep structure of scientific theories. The book's premise is that evolutionary biology would not be complete if it did not explain evolutionarily significant social facts about nonhumans and humans. It proposes that explanations should be evaluated in terms of their basis in underlying theories, research programs, and conceptual frameworks.
Author: Harmon R. Holcomb Publisher: SUNY Press ISBN: 9780791412596 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 486
Book Description
This book examines sociobiology's validity and significance, using the sociobiological theory of the evolution of mating and parenting as an example. It identifies and discusses the array of factors that determine sociobiology's effort to become a science, providing a rare, balanced account--more critical than that of its advocates and more constructive than that of its critics. It sees a role for sociobiology in changing the way we understand the goals of evolutionary biology, the proper way to evaluate emerging sciences, and the deep structure of scientific theories. The book's premise is that evolutionary biology would not be complete if it did not explain evolutionarily significant social facts about nonhumans and humans. It proposes that explanations should be evaluated in terms of their basis in underlying theories, research programs, and conceptual frameworks.
Author: Evelyn Reed Publisher: Pathfinder ISBN: Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 208
Book Description
Are human beings innately aggressive? Does biology condemn women to remain the "second sex?" Taking up such biases cloaked as the findings of science, Reed explains that the disciplines closest to human life-anthropology, biology, and sociology-are permeated with rationalizations for the oppression of women and the maintenance of the established capitalist order. "A stimulating corrective to establishment academic doctrine and popular scientific vagaries. Recommended for scientific, women's, as well as nonspecialist collections." -Library Journal "An enjoyable book …. Reed shows, clearly and beautifully, how the mind of the scientist-usually male, white and middle-class-filters and processes the so-called facts …. [I]ntensely readable for non-specialists, but also stimulating for those who are not unfamiliar with the subject …. This is the sort of book that one should own, one should read, and one should pass along."-Status of Women News "Provides a useful antidote to obscurantic nonsense perpetrated by Ardrey, Morris and … Lionel Tiger."-Emergency Librarian "Dissects [Claude Levi-Strauss's] theses with precision and elegance."-News from Neasden Glossary, bibliography, index.
Author: Todd K. Shackelford Publisher: Springer ISBN: 3319093843 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 280
Book Description
Attraction, mating, reproduction: it is a given that as a species, human beings are concerned with sex. And whether the study compares sexual behaviors of men and women or considers the proportions between nature and nurture, most roads lead back to our distant ancestors and/or our fellow animals. The Evolution of Sexuality collects stimulating new empirical findings and theoretical concepts regarding both familiar themes and emerging areas of interest. Following earlier titles in this series, an interdisciplinary panel of contributors examines topics specific to the whys of male and female sex-related behavior, here ranging from biological bases for male same-sex attraction to the seemingly elusive purpose of the female orgasm. This vantage point between biology and psychology gives readers profound insights not just into human differences and similarities, but also why they continue to matter despite our vast understanding of culture and socialization. And intriguing dispatches from the humanities review sexual themes in classic works of literature and explore the role of parent-offspring conflict in the English Revolution of the seventeenth century. Among the topics covered: Sexual conflict and evolutionary psychology: toward a unified framework. Assortative mating, caste, and class. The functional design and phylogeny of female sexuality. Is oral sex a form of mate retention behavior? Two behavioral hypotheses for the evolution or male homosexuality in humans. Sperm competition and the evolution of human sexuality. The Evolution of Sexuality will attract evolutionary scientists across a variety of disciplines. Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and researchers interested in sexuality will find it a springboard for discussion, debate, and further study.
Author: Kim Sterelny Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 9780226773049 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 462
Book Description
In this introduction to philosophy of biology, Kim Sterelny and Paul E. Griffiths present both the science and the philosophical context necessary for a critical understanding of the debates shaping biology at the end of the 20th century.
Author: Bobbi S. Low Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 069116388X Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 428
Book Description
Why are men, like other primate males, usually the aggressors and risk takers? Why do women typically have fewer sexual partners? In Why Sex Matters, Bobbi Low ranges from ancient Rome to modern America, from the Amazon to the Arctic, and from single-celled organisms to international politics, to show that these and many other questions about human behavior largely come down to evolution and sex. More precisely, as she shows in this uniquely comprehensive and accessible survey of behavioral and evolutionary ecology, they come down to the basic principle that all organisms evolved to maximize their reproductive success and seek resources to do so, but that sometimes cooperation and collaboration are the most effective ways to succeed. This newly revised edition has been thoroughly updated to include the latest research and reflect exciting changes in the field, including how our evolutionary past continues to affect our ecological present.
Author: Roger N. Lancaster Publisher: Univ of California Press ISBN: 0520236203 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 459
Book Description
Lancaster provides the disproof of evolutionary stories about men, women, and the nature of desire of the heterosexual fables that pervade popular culture, from prime-time sitcoms to scientific theories about the so-called gay gene.
Author: Ruth Bleier Publisher: Pergamon ISBN: Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 236
Book Description
Bleier (neurophysiology, U. of Wisconsin-Madison) dissects the theme of women's biological inferiority contending that science has been engaged in elaborate mythologizing to explain the subordinate position of women in Western civilizations since Aristotle. Exploring the scientific and ideological bases of contemporary theories in gender differences, the author critically examines studies in sociobiology, sex differences in brain structure and cognitive function, human cultural evolution, anthropology, and sexuality. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Author: Richard C. Francis Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 140085069X Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 340
Book Description
Much of the evolutionary biology that has grabbed headlines in recent years has sprung from the efforts of sociobiologists and evolutionary psychologists to explain sexual features and behavior--even differences between how men and women think--as evolutionary adaptations. They have looked to the forces of natural selection to explain everything from the mimicry of male mockingbirds to female orgasms among humans. In this controversial book, Richard Francis argues that the utility of this approach is greatly exaggerated. He proposes instead a powerful alternative rooted in the latest findings in evolutionary biology as well as research on the workings of our brains, genes, and hormones. Exploring various sexual phenomena, Francis exposes fundamental defects in sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, which he traces to their misguided emphasis on "why" questions at the expense of "how" questions. Francis contends that this preoccupation with "why" questions (such as, "Why won't men ask for directions"?) results in a paranoiac mindset and distorted evolutionary explanations. His alternative framework entails a broader conception of what constitutes an evolutionary explanation, one in which both evolutionary history, as embodied in the tree of life, and developmental processes are brought to the foreground. This alternative framework is also better grounded in basic biology. Deeply learned, consistently persuasive, and always engaging, this book is a welcome antidote to simplistic sociobiological exegeses of animal and human behavior.
Author: Harmon R. Holcomb III
Author: Harmon R. Holcomb
Author: Evelyn Reed
Author: Todd K. Shackelford
Author: A.E. Rasa
Author: Kim Sterelny
Author: Bobbi S. Low
Author: Roger N. Lancaster
Author: Ruth Bleier
Author: Richard C. Francis