Designed for upper level anthropology courses in the evolution of human behavior (often cross-listed in psychology), this book presents an overview of the current discourse on how and why humans became human behaviorally. This is the first book to provide an anthropological perspective and
focused synthetic review of the major hypotheses for human behavioral evolution, including human behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, memetics, and gene-culture co-evolution. Nowhere in print (in either book or article form) are the various hypotheses for human behavior, from across
paradigms, assembled and compared.
Along the way, Fuentes looks at basic assumptions about why humans behave as they do, the facts of human evolution, patterns of evolutionary change in a global environmental-temporal context, and the interconnected roles of conflict and cooperation in
the human history of predation, manipulation, foraging, and raising young.
Preface
1. The relevance of understanding human behavioral evolution
Theories and hypotheses about behavioral evolution: why are they relevant?
Evolution is frequently misunderstood and often is thought to preclude a cultural component
We need to understand who we
are
Practical issues such as medicine and public health can benefit from an understanding of behavioral evolution
Misunderstanding human behavioral evolution can result in potentially dangerous ideas
A simple example of behavioral evolution
2. Why we behave like humans: historical
perspectives and basal assumptions
Charles Darwin and the Descent of Man
Alfred Russel Wallace and the evolution of the mind
Between Darwin and Sociobiology
Spencer, Baldwin, and Morgan: biology, psychology and the behavioral evolution of the human mind
The Modern
Synthesis
Washburn's' New Physical Anthropology, and the emergence of an evolutionary anthropology of behavior
Tinbergen's 4 questions and their impact on the understanding of behavior
The revolution of Sociobiology, kin selection, and elfish genes: The New Synthesis
Hamilton and kin
selection
Robert Trivers and reciprocal altruism
EO Wilson, evolutionary sociobiology and the autocatalysis model
Dawkins and the selfish gene
Suggested readings
3. Modern perspectives for understanding human behavioral evolution: A review of basic assumptions, structures, and
practice
Human Behavioral Ecology (HBE)
Basic overview of Human Behavioral Ecology
HBE example
Evolutionary Psychology (EP)
The adapted mind
Goals and methods: Contrast with SSSM specific approach
EP Example
Gene-Culture co-evolution (aka Dual Inheritance
theory-DIT)
DIT Example: Memetics
Memetics Example
Summing up
Suggested readings
4. Basic bones and stones: What do we know about the record of human evolution? (as of 2008)
Comparative primatology establishes a baseline for human behavior
Very Brief summary of human
fossil record (~5mya-present)
The Early Australopithecines
The Pleistocene Hominins
The Genus Homo
Very Brief summary of the cultural record and behavioral inferences(~2.6mya-present)
Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene forms: Pleistocene hominins-late
Suggested readings
5.
Why we behave like humans: a survey of hypotheses and proposals
Why select these hypotheses?
Summaries of specific hypotheses/proposals
Suggested readings
6. Discussing the hypotheses
The comparison tables
A brief discussion shared components and differences in the 6 basic
categories
Cooperation
Conflict
Food
Environmental and Ecological Pressures
Sex and Reproduction
Specific Behavioral Factors
Of trends and patterns
Suggested readings
7. 21st century evolutionary theory/biology and thinking about the evolution of human
behavior
Adding to our toolkit: Using four dimensions of evolution
Revisiting Tinbergen's ontogenetic "why"
Four other approaches in evolutionary biology/theory
Phenotypic Plasticity and ecological impact/context: moving beyond norms of reaction
Developmental Systems
Theory
Niche Construction
Biocultural approaches to studying modern humans
Can adding these perspectives to existing practice (as outlined in chapter 3) impact the way we formulate and test hypotheses/conceptualizations of human behavioral evolution?
What practices and perspectives
should be removed or deemphasized?
What practices and/or perspectives cross all of these categories?
What perspectives should be expanded?
Suggested Readings
8. A synthesis and prospectus for examining human behavioral evolution
A set of modest proposals emerging from chapters
1-7: Seeking the broad and the minute foci
Looking at the areas of overlap and interest from Chapter 6:
Cooperation commonalities
Cooperation factors that deserve further examination
Conflict commonalities: Conflict factors that deserve further examination
Diet/Food
commonalities
Diet/food factors that deserve further examination
Ecology/Environment commonalities
Ecology/Environment factors that deserve further examination
Sex/Reproduction commonalities: Sex/Reproduction factors that deserve further examination
Specific Behavior
commonalities
Specific behavior factors that deserve further examination
A modest proposal for a general framework of our evolutionary history
9. Problem of being a modern human and looking at our evolution
Benefits and flaws in this prospectus
Merging approaches and
perspectives
How do we test this and why are testable hypotheses important?
The difficulties we encounter when reconstructing our evolutionary path and its underlying causes/patterns
Basic educational and paradigmatic biases and the problems these bring
Human niche construction
matters
Everyday life, gender, and cultural anthropology matter
Epilogue: Anthropology, science, and people
Appendix A: Related Titles for Further Reference
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.
Agustin Fuentes is at the University of Notre Dame.
Making Sense in the Social Sciences - Margot Northey, Lorne Tepperman and Patrizia Albanese
