Unknown Boundaries (Paperback)

R.A. Foley

ISBN 10: 0521678781 / ISBN 13: 9780521678780

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006

About this Item

Paperback. The last twenty years have seen a resurgence of interest in human evolution in many aspects. A distinction can be made between 'narrow' (general acceptance that human evolution occurred, historically) and 'broad' (evolutionary ideas that stretch much further into all aspects of humanity, past and present) human evolution. The broad perspective is beginning to make its presence felt, for example, through the developments in evolutionary genetics, evolutionary psychology and behavioural ecology. There must, therefore, be, among the variety of human adaptations, natures and behaviours, phenomena which are not susceptible to an evolutionary analysis, which are beyond the bounds of evolution. The problem is, though, that we do not really know where that boundary lies. Here, the limits of human evolution are explored, using two approaches - first, finding where humans 'fit' the expectations of evolutionary principles; and second, applying evolutionary methods to particular human contexts, whilst looking for an evolutionary signal. The last twenty years have seen a resurgence of interest in human evolution. A distinction can be made between 'narrow' and 'broad' human evolution and is discussed here using two different approaches: finding where humans 'fit' the expectations of evolutiionary principles; and by applying evolutionary methods to particular human contexts. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780521678780

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Unknown Boundaries (Paperback)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521678781
• ISBN 13: 9780521678780
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The last twenty years have seen a resurgence of interest in human evolution in many aspects. A distinction can be made between 'narrow' (general acceptance that human evolution occurred, historically) and 'broad' (evolutionary ideas that stretch much further into all aspects of humanity, past and present) human evolution. The broad perspective is beginning to make its presence felt, for example, through the developments in evolutionary genetics, evolutionary psychology and behavioural ecology. There must, therefore, be, among the variety of human adaptations, natures and behaviours, phenomena which are not susceptible to an evolutionary analysis, which are beyond the bounds of evolution. The problem is, though, that we do not really know where that boundary lies. Here, the limits of human evolution are explored, using two approaches - first, finding where humans 'fit' the expectations of evolutionary principles; and second, applying evolutionary methods to particular human contexts, whilst looking for an evolutionary signal.

About the Author

Robert Foley is the Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies at Cambridge University.