Human Success
Evolutionary Origins and Ethical Implications
Published on 8. June 2023
Book
Hardback
344 pages
978-0-19-009616-8 (ISBN)
Description
Human Success: Evolutionary Origins and Ethical Implications examines human success from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, with contributions from leading paleobiologists, anthropologists, geologists, philosophers of science, and ethicists. It considers how the human species grew in success-linked metrics, such as population size and geographical range, and how it came to dominate ecological systems across the globe. It probes whether the consequences of that dominance, such as human-driven climate change and the destruction of biodiversity, mandate a rethinking of the meaning of human success. The essays in this book urge us to reflect on what has led to our apparent evolutionary success-and, most importantly, what this success implies for the future of our species.
Reviews / Votes
If you want to understand human success, its biological and cultural components, start with this groundbreaking collection. Essays authored by experts from many disciplines-paleoanthropology, biology, philosophy, and more. Top-quality scholarship, jargon free. I feel proud to be part of a community of scholars such as these. * Michael Ruse, Florida State University (Emeritus) * It is worth stressing that the current volume is an excellent collection of scholarship. It is immensely successful in bringing together complex historical narratives of hominin evolution and using them to speculate about how best to understand human success and the collective challenges in striving towards it. * Andrew Buskell, Georgia Institute of Technology * This admirable collection has a rich diversity of cutting-edge authors, including philosophers, biologists, and anthropologists. The sections and chapters within are well organized. The book explores the many ways humans have been and may well be successful. The volume is a rich contribution that will aid both scientists and philosophers in thinking about what is and what is not the secret of our success. * Jay Odenbaugh, The Quarterly Review of Biology *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
14 b/w figures, 1 table
Dimensions
Height: 164 mm
Width: 244 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
630 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-009616-8 (9780190096168)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2023
OUP eBook
€69.99
Available for download
E-Book
03/2023
OUP eBook
€69.99
Available for download
Persons
Hugh Desmond is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz University of Hannover and Assistant Professor at the University of Antwerp. He received his PhD from KU Leuven, and has held research and visiting positions at Paris I-Sorbonne, KU Leuven, Princeton University, New York University, and the Hastings Center. His work centers on the philosophy and ethics of science, with particular emphasis on biology.
Grant Ramsey is a Research Professor at KU Leuven. He earned his PhD at Duke University and served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame from 2007 until 2016. His work centers on the philosophy of biology, especially the foundations of evolutionary and behavioral biology.
Grant Ramsey is a Research Professor at KU Leuven. He earned his PhD at Duke University and served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame from 2007 until 2016. His work centers on the philosophy of biology, especially the foundations of evolutionary and behavioral biology.
Content
Editor and Contributor Biographies
1. Introduction: The Manifold Challenges to Understanding Human Success
Hugh Desmond and Grant Ramsey
Part I: What is Evolutionary Success?
2. Evolutionary Success: Standards of Value
Dan McShea
3. Human Success: A Contextual and Pluralistic View
Marion Hourdequin
4. Human success as a complex of autonomy, adaptation, and niche construction
Bernd Rosslenbroich
Part II: Explaining Human Success
5. The Origin and Evolution of Human Uniqueness
Geerat Vermeij
6. Wanderlust: A View from Deep Time of Dispersal, Persistence, and Human Success
Susan Anton
7. Culture as a life-history character: the cognitive continuum in primates and hominins
Matt Grove
8. A Gene-Culture Coevolutionary Perspective on Human Success
Kathryn Demps and Peter Richerson
Part III. Human Success in the Anthropocene
9. Anthropocene patterns in stratigraphy as a perspective on human success
Jan Zalasiewicz, Mark Williams, Colin Waters
10. Utter success and extensive inequity: Assessing processes, patterns, and outcomes of the human niche in the Anthropocene
Agustin Fuentes
11. Adaptability and the Continuation of Human Origins
Richard Potts
12. Evolving Measures of Moral Success
Allen Buchanan and Rachell Powell
13. Future Human Success: Beyond Techno-Libertarianism
Hugh Desmond
1. Introduction: The Manifold Challenges to Understanding Human Success
Hugh Desmond and Grant Ramsey
Part I: What is Evolutionary Success?
2. Evolutionary Success: Standards of Value
Dan McShea
3. Human Success: A Contextual and Pluralistic View
Marion Hourdequin
4. Human success as a complex of autonomy, adaptation, and niche construction
Bernd Rosslenbroich
Part II: Explaining Human Success
5. The Origin and Evolution of Human Uniqueness
Geerat Vermeij
6. Wanderlust: A View from Deep Time of Dispersal, Persistence, and Human Success
Susan Anton
7. Culture as a life-history character: the cognitive continuum in primates and hominins
Matt Grove
8. A Gene-Culture Coevolutionary Perspective on Human Success
Kathryn Demps and Peter Richerson
Part III. Human Success in the Anthropocene
9. Anthropocene patterns in stratigraphy as a perspective on human success
Jan Zalasiewicz, Mark Williams, Colin Waters
10. Utter success and extensive inequity: Assessing processes, patterns, and outcomes of the human niche in the Anthropocene
Agustin Fuentes
11. Adaptability and the Continuation of Human Origins
Richard Potts
12. Evolving Measures of Moral Success
Allen Buchanan and Rachell Powell
13. Future Human Success: Beyond Techno-Libertarianism
Hugh Desmond