Biology and Freedom, first published in 1989, is an essay on human nature: an attempt to make a just assessment of a species often presented as predominantly and unavoidably violent, grasping, selfish and stupid. Likening human beings to animals is a traditional method of influencing attitudes on morals and politics. But in this book Professor Barnett shows that modern ethology, experimental psychology, genetics and evolutionary theory give the now fashionable misanthropy no authentic support. In doing so he asks whether the theory of evolution has any bearing on Machiavellianism in politics or the concept of original sin; and whether laboratory experiments on the effects of reward and punishment tell us anything about the enigma of free will. Combining the findings of biology with logic and humour, Professor Barnett gives a lucid alternative portrait of humanity in which he stresses the questions that the complexities of human existence will raise long after current myths have faded. This book is for all interested in human nature and the future of human society.

The authors of the essays presented in this collection use selected animal and human models to inquire into the dynamics of hierarchical behavior. The collection begins with a review of the biological parameters of human behavior and suggests that a biological basis can be found in association with general strategies for organizing human behavior. Barchas has organized the essays proceeding from an evolutionary contextual frame through contributions that illuminate the regulation of hierarchical structures, to the final essays that implicate the brain's attentional system as a chief mediator between an individual's position in the group structure and behavior. This provocative volume presents strategies for thinking about some of the issues that necessarily arise when the impact of social behavior, physiology, and evolution on hierarchical behavior is considered.

" It is easy to think of evolution as something that happened long ago, or that occurs only in "nature," or that is so slow that its ongoing impact is virtually nonexistent when viewed from the perspective of a single human lifetime. But we now know that when natural selection is strong, evolutionary change can be very rapid. In this book, some of the world's leading scientists explore the implications of this reality for human life and society. With some twenty-five essays, this volume provides authoritative yet accessible explorations of why understanding evolution is crucial to human life--from dealing with climate change and ensuring our food supply, health, and economic survival to developing a richer and more accurate comprehension of society, culture, and even what it means to be human itself. Combining new essays with ones revised and updated from the acclaimed Princeton Guide to Evolution, this collection addresses the role of evolution in aging, cognition, cooperation, religion, the media, engineering, computer science, and many other areas. The result is a compelling and important book about how evolution matters to humans today. The contributors include Francisco J. Ayala, Dieter Ebert, Elizabeth Hannon, Richard E. Lenski, Tim Lewens, Jonathan B. Losos, Jacob A. Moorad, Mark Pagel, Robert T. Pennock, Daniel E. L. Promislow, Robert C. Richardson, Alan R. Templeton, and Carl Zimmer."--

Essay from the year 2006 in the subject Sociology - Individual, Groups, Society, grade: 1,3 (A), University of Lincoln (ESSD Division), course: Social Theory, language: English, abstract: The question as to how far biological factors, or more specifically genes, influence our human behaviour and consequently social phenomena, for example the foundation of a family, is fascinating for science and public; especially since the discovery of the human genes. Nevertheless, there are still great controversies between social scientists and adherents of sociobiology concerning the central question; if it is culture and self-consciousness respectively, or genes that dominate human social behaviour. Even though Max Weber already recognized that our biological heredity may have an impact on social phenomena, he did not regard biology as sufficiently developed enough to be really helpful for sociology. (Kaye, 1986) It was in 1975 when Edward O. Wilson’s book “Sociobiology: The New Synthesis” became the trigger for new public discussions about how far, if at all, concepts of biological evolution could be relevant for explaining social behaviour in human societies. The term “sociobiology” constitutes a concept which can be described as a synthesis of neo-Darwinism (“survival of the fittest” combined with Mendel’s laws of heredity) and ethology (the study of behaviour). (Gregory, 1979) The problem with Wilson’s work was that, although he focused mainly on animal societies, he claimed that his findings were valid for human beings as well. (Wilson, 1979 in Gregory et al.; Wallace and Wolf, 2006) The reactions of social scientists and the scientific media reached from “deep scepticism” (Goldsmith, 1991: Preface) and “stiff resistance”. In this essay I will first have a look at the general assumptions and arguments of sociobiologists and how they want to intertwine biological and sociological explanations of human behaviour and social structures. After that I will discuss the manifold criticisms which were made by opponents of the sociobiological approach and compare some of them directly with responses of sociobiologists. To get a general idea of the possible contributions sociobiology can make to social science in explaining human beings’ social behaviour biologically, I will describe some research areas of the perspective. I am also going to show that altruism is phenomenon which causes explanatory difficulties. In the conclusion at the end of the essay the possible contributions of sociobiology to social science and the explanation of human behaviour should be considered.

In The Triumph of Sociobiology, John Alcock reviews the controversy that has surrounded evolutionary studies of human social behavior following the 1975 publication of E.O. Wilson's classic, Sociobiology, The New Synthesis. Denounced vehemently as an "ideology" that has justified social evils and inequalities, sociobiology has survived the assault. Twenty-five years after the field was named by Wilson, the approach he championed has successfully demonstrated its value in the study of animal behavior, including the behavior of our own species. Yet, misconceptions remain--to our disadvantage. In this straight-forward, objective approach to the sociobiology debate, noted animal behaviorist John Alcock illuminates how sociobiologists study behavior in all species. He confronts the chief scientific and ideological objections head on, with a compelling analysis of case histories that involve such topics as sexual jealousy, beauty, gender difference, parent-offspring relations, and rape. In so doing, he shows that sociobiology provides the most satisfactory scientific analysis of social behavior available today. Alcock challenges the notion that sociobiology depends on genetic determinism while showing the shortcoming of competing approaches that rely on cultural or environmental determinism. He also presents the practical applications of sociobiology and the progress sociobiological research has made in the search for a more complete understanding of human activities. His reminder that "natural" behavior is not "moral" behavior should quiet opponents fearing misapplication of evolutionary theory to our species. The key misconceptions about this evolutionary field are dissected one by one as the author shows why sociobiologists have had so much success in explaining the puzzling and fascinating social behavior of nonhuman animals and humans alike.