Suchergebnisse

This volume is a concise American government textbook, introducing students to the workings of American government. The authors present American political institutions, such as the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court, how the average American participates in Government by covering topics such as voting, public opinion, and the media. They explore why Americans seem to have increasing dissatisfaction with their government and attempt to explore the role that you as U.S. citizens and residents can take in improving democracy in America. By understanding the structure, purpose, and application of the Constitution, students can reflect on how American beliefs influence participation in government and how they can be active citizens in influencing government

Few intellectual battles compare in depth of passion or theatrics to the outrage that greeted the publication of Edward O. Wilson's 1975 path-breaking volume,Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Within days of publication, opponents organized symposia; wrote critical editorials; picketed in Harvard Square; and, at one meeting, assaulted Wilson with a bucket of cold water before he could deliver his address. Fueling this reaction was Wilson's temerity in asserting that the principles of the new synthetic theory applied no less to humans than to other species—and then to use the penultimate chapter to apply his theory to explaining human mating, aggression, and the development of moral and religious systems. Even some who were sympathetic with sociobiology were taken aback by some of the imperialistic sounding statements made by Wilson and his disciples, like Robert Trivers, who prophesized: "Sooner or later, political science, law, economics, psychology, psychiatry, and anthropology will all be branches of sociobiology."

PrécisEdward O. Wilson continues an argument begun in earlier works that all branches of knowledge are converging around basic fundamental laws of nature discovered through the scientific method. He eclipses earlier calls to bridge the gaps between evolutionary biology and philosophy, for example, by an appeal to involve the arts as well as the humanities in this "jumping together" of the various branches of human knowledge. Wilson draws upon his work in population genetics, entomology, and ethology to propose ways in which science can inform and transform current debates in philosophy, ethics, and aesthetics. He maintains that the sciences, humanities, and arts, properly understood, contribute to the "conviction, far deeper than a mere working proposition, that the world is orderly and can be explained by a small number of natural laws."

Examines the role of the American Political Science Association and its Organized Sections, groups which reflect the research interests of its members, in shaping growth of the study of politics, 1920s-1990s; US.

PrécisAs the editor reports in the introduction, this volume has three goals: (1) to acknowledge the influence of sociobiology in a wide number of disciplines and areas of inquiry; (2) to illustrate the ways in which practitioners of these disparate disciplines employ sociobiological approaches in their own fields of study; and (3) to introduce major principles of sociobiology.Contributors assess the current and potential influence of sociobiology in their own fields, including psychiatry (Randolph M. Nesse), law (John H. Beckstrom), management theory (J. Gary Bernhard and Kalman Glantz), anthropology (William Irons), economics (Robert H. Frank), primatology (Birute Galdikas and Paul Vasey), history (Laura Betzig), political science (Roger D. Masters), ethical philosophy (John Chandler), cognitive psychology (Douglas Kenrick and Robert Hogan), epistemology (Michael Ruse), religious studies (Vernon Reynolds), studies of conflict (Johan M. G. van der Dennen), Marxist thought (Regina Karpinskaya), aesthetics (Charles J. Lumsden), sociology (Pierre L. van den Berghe), linguistics (James R. Hurford), and psychology (Charles Crawford). The introductory essay includes a glossary of sociobiological terms.

Précis. This volume explores the contributions of sociobiology for an understanding of a wide range of conflictual behaviors among humans. While specifically focusing upon inclusive fitness theory, contributing authors forge ties between sociobiological propositions and data on conflict and cooperation from a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, social psychology, and political science, among others.