| Beyond Evolution: Human Nature and the Limits of Evolutionary Explanation Contributor(s): O'Hear, Anthony (Author) |
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ISBN: 0198250045 ISBN-13: 9780198250043 Publisher: Clarendon Press OUR PRICE: $49.40 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 1999 Annotation: In this controversial book O'Hear takes a stand against the fashion for explaining human behavior in terms of evolution. He contends that while the theory of evolution is successful in explaining the development of the natural world in general, it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and our rationality we take on goals and ideals which cannot be justified in terms of survival-promotion or reproductive advantage. O'Hear examines the nature of human self-consciousness, and argues that evolutionary theory cannot give a satisfactory account of such distinctive facets of human life as the quest for knowledge, moral sense, and the appreciation of beauty; in these we transcend our biological origins. It is our rationality that allows each of us to go beyond not only our biological but also our cultural inheritance: as the author says in the Preface, "we are prisoners neither of our genes nor of the ideas we encounter as we each make our personal and individual way through life." |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Science | Life Sciences - Evolution - Science | Philosophy & Social Aspects - Philosophy |
| Dewey: 128 |
| Lexile Measure: 1550 |
| Physical Information: 0.54" H x 6.18" W x 9.17" (0.74 lbs) 230 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In this controversial book O'Hear takes a stand against the fashion for explaining human behavior in terms of evolution. He contends that while the theory of evolution is successful in explaining the development of the natural world in general, it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and our rationality we take on goals and ideals which cannot be justified in terms of survival-promotion or reproductive advantage. O'Hear examines the nature of human self-consciousness, and argues that evolutionary theory cannot give a satisfactory account of such distinctive facets of human life as the quest for knowledge, moral sense, and the appreciation of beauty; in these we transcend our biological origins. It is our rationality that allows each of us to go beyond not only our biological but also our cultural inheritance: as the author says in the Preface, we are prisoners neither of our genes nor of the ideas we encounter as we each make our personal and individual way through life. |