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Homo Novus - A Human Without Illusions

  • Book
  • © 2010

Overview

Editors:
  1. Ulrich J. Frey

    1. Zentrum für Philosophie und, Grundlagen der Wissenschaft, Universität Gießen, Gießen, Germany

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  2. Charlotte Störmer

    1. Zentrum für Philosophie und, Grundlagen der Wissenschaft, Universität Gießen, Gießen, Germany

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  3. Kai P. Willführ

    1. Zentrum für Philosophie und, Grundlagen der Wissenschaft, Universität Gießen, Gießen, Germany

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  • Reveals the seven greatest errors in the way we view our own species
  • Revisits the Naked Ape employing latest ideas from evolutionary biology, philosophy, and neurobiology
  • Carries implications for a new image of humanity
  • Shines a multidisciplinary spotlight on critical social, political and moral issues
  • Written by leading international experts
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: The Frontiers Collection (FRONTCOLL)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
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  2. Humans Are Exceptional

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 5-5
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  3. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Ulrich J. Frey, Charlotte Störmer, Kai P. Willführ
      Pages 1-4

  4. Humans Are Exceptional

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 5-5
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    2. The Position of Man in the Cosmos

      • Bernulf Kanitscheider
      Pages 7-18

    3. Living Differences

      • Volker Sommer, Amy R. Parish
      Pages 19-33

    4. Nothing to Talk About

      • Julia Fischer
      Pages 35-48

  5. We Are Independent of Our Sociobiological Roots

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 49-49
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    2. The True Egoist Is Cooperative

      • Christian Vogel†
      Pages 51-63

    3. The Social Brain and Its Implications

      • Robin Dunbar
      Pages 65-77

    4. Why Most Theories Get It Wrong

      • Julia Pradel, Detlef Fetchenhauer
      Pages 79-92

  6. The Biological Imperative Doesn’t Matter to Us

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 93-93
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    2. Mortality Crises and Their Consequences for Human Life Histories

      • Charlotte Störmer, Kai P. Willführ
      Pages 95-109

    3. Costs and Consequences of Reproduction

      • Virpi Lummaa
      Pages 111-126

    4. Height and Reproductive Success

      • Rebecca Sear
      Pages 127-143

  7. The Past Doesn’t Echo in Our Heads

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 145-145
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    2. Developmental Psychology Without Dualistic Illusions

      • Athanasios Chasiotis
      Pages 147-160

    3. The Psychology of Families

      • Harald A. Euler
      Pages 161-179

  8. Moral, Religion and Culture Are Social Constructions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 181-181
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    2. Moral Normativity Is (Naturally) Grown

      • Kurt Bayertz
      Pages 183-191
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Keywords

About this book

Converging evidence from disciplines including sociobiology, evolutionary psychology and human biology forces us to adopt a new idea of what it means to be a human. As cherished concepts such as free will, naïve realism, humans as creation's crowning glory fall and our moral roots in ape group dynamics become clearer, we have to take leave of many concepts that have been central to defining our humanness. What emerges is a new human, the homo novus, a human being without illusions. Leading authors from many different fields explore these issues by addressing a range of illusions and providing evidence for the need, despite considerable reluctance, to relinquish some of our most cherished ideas about ourselves.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Zentrum für Philosophie und, Grundlagen der Wissenschaft, Universität Gießen, Gießen, Germany

    Ulrich J. Frey, Charlotte Störmer, Kai P. Willführ

About the editors

Ulrich Frey (philosophy), Charlotte Störmer and Kai Willführ (biology) work in an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Giessen, applying evolutionary theory to a broad range of fields. The following authors contributed to the chapters of this book: Kurt Bayertz, Athanasios Chasiotis, Robin Dunbar, Harald A. Euler, Detlef Fetchenhauer, Julia Fischer, Bernulf Kanitscheider, Chris Knight, Virpi Lummaa, Amy R. Parish, Julia Pradel, Gerhard Roth, Wulf Schiefenhövel, Rebecca Sear, Volker Sommer and Gerhard Vollmer.

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