The Lawrence Jacobsen Library
Books Received (Primate-Science/PrimateLit)

ON HUMAN NATURE 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION WITH A NEW PREFACE

By: Edward O. Wilson

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction

(Description taken from the Harvard University Press web-site entry for the
1978 edition)

No one who cares about the human future can afford to ignore Edward O.
WilsonÔø‡Ôø‡s book.  On Human Nature begins a new phase in the most important
intellectual controversy of this generation: Is human behavior controlled
by the speciesÔø‡Ôø‡ biological heritage?  Does this heritage limit human destiny?

With characteristic pungency and simplicity of style, the author of
Sociobiology challenges old prejudices and current misconceptions about the
nature-nurture debate.  He shows howÔø‡ evolution had left its traces on the
most distinctively human activities, how patterns of generosity,
self-sacrifice, and worship, as well as sexuality and aggression, reveal
their deep roots in the life histories of primate bands that hunted big
game in the last Ice Age.  His goal in nothing less than the completion of
the Darwinian revolution by bringing biological thought into the center of
the social sciences and humanities.

Wilson presents a philosophy that cuts across the usual categories of
conservative, liberal, or radical thought.  In systematically applying the
modern theory of natural selection to human society, he arrives at
conclusions far removed from the social Darwinist legacy of the last
century.  Sociobiological theory, he shows, is compatible with a broadly
humane and egalitarian outlook.  Human diversity is to be treasured, not
merely tolerated, he argues.  Discrimination against ethnic groups,
homosexuals, and women is based on a complete misunderstanding of
biological fact.

But biological facts can never take the place of ethical choices.  Once we
understand our human nature, we must choose how Ôø‡Ôø‡human" in the fullest,
biological sense, we wish to remain.  We cannot make this choice with the
aid of external guides or absolute ethical principles because our very
concept of right and wrong is wholly rooted in our own biological
past.  This paradox is fundamental to the evolution of consciousness in any
species; there is no formula for escaping it.  To understand its essence is
to grasp the full predicament of the human condition.

(Description of the new preface found on the back cover of the 25th
Anniversary Edition)

In his new preface E. O. Wilson reflects on how he came to write this book:
how The Insect Societies led him to write Sociobiology, and how the
political and religious uproar that engulfed that book persuaded him to
write another book that would better explain the relevance of biology to
the understanding of human behavior.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

(Author information taken from the back cover of the 25th Anniversary Edition)

Edward O. Wilson is Pellegrino University Professor at Harvard
University.  In addition to two Pulitzer Prizes (one of which he shares
with Bert Hölldobler), Wilson has won many scientific awards, including the
National Medal of Science and the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences.  He is the author of many books, including Pheidole in
the New World: A Dominant, Hyperdiverse Ant Genus (Harvard).

Contents

Preface, 2004  -Page ix

Preface -Page xix

Chapter 1:  Dilemma Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 1

Chapter 2:  Heredity Ôø‡Ôø‡Page15

Chapter 3:  Development Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 53

Chapter 4:  Emergence Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 71

Chapter 5:  Aggression Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 99

Chapter 6:  Sex Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 121

Chapter 7:  Altruism Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 149

Chapter 8:  Religion Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 169

Chapter 9:  Hope Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 195

Glossary Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 213

Notes Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 223

Index Ôø‡Ôø‡Page 251

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WHERE TO ORDER

ISBN 0-674-01638-6 (Paperback) $18.95
Publication Date October 18, 2004

Harvard University Press
79 Garden Street
Cambridge MA 02138

Harvard University Press Web-site address:
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/>www.hup.harvard.edu
Direct Link to the on-line catalog entry for On Human Nature, the 25th
Anniversary Edition with a new preface:
www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/WILONY.html

Posted Date: 10/13/04