The great apes -- gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans -- are known to be our closest living relatives. Chimpanzees in particular share 98 percent of our DNA, and scientists widely agree that they exhibit intellectual abilities long thought to be unique to humans, such as self-awareness and the ability to interpret the moods and identify the needs of others. The close relation of apes to humans raises important ethical questions. Are they better protected in the wild or in zoos? ...

The volume documents, and makes an original contribution to, an astonishing period in twentieth-century philosophy-the progress of Arne Naess's ecophilosophy from its inception to the present. It includes Naess's most crucial polemics with leading thinkers, drawn from sources as diverse as scholarly articles, correspondence, TV interviews and unpublished exchanges. The book testifies to the skeptical and self-correcting aspects of Naess's vision, which has deepened and broadened to include...

This anthology, designed for use in undergraduate courses in environmental ethics, includes new and classic readings by leading writers in the field, full-length case studies, and many short discussion cases. Introductions and discussion questions are provided for all the essays, with each chapter introduced by a summary of the issues and appropriate philosophic, historical and scientific background. Exploring ethical theory, environmental ethics, science and the environmental movement, Ea...

From the most celebrated heir to Darwin comes a groundbreaking book on evolution, the summa work of Edward O. Wilson's legendary career.Where did we come from? What are we? Where are we going? In a generational work of clarity and passion, one of our greatest living scientists directly addresses these three fundamental questions of religion, philosophy, and science while “overturning the famous theory that evolution naturally encourages creatures to put family first” (Discover

C. Wright Mills is best remembered for his highly acclaimed work The Sociological Imagination, in which he set forth his views on how social science should be pursued. Hailed upon publication as a cogent and hard-hitting critique, The Sociological Imagination took issue with the ascendant schools of sociology in the United States, calling for a humanist sociology connecting the social, personal, and historical dimensions of our lives. The sociological imagination Mills ca...

There have been many books, movies, and even TV commercials featuring Neandertals--some serious, some comical. But what was it really like to be a Neandertal? How were their lives similar to or different from ours? In How to Think Like a Neandertal, archaeologist Thomas Wynn and psychologist Frederick L. Coolidge team up to provide a brilliant account of the mental life of Neandertals, drawing on the most recent fossil and archaeological remains. Indeed, some Neandertal remains are not fos...

A founder of the Deep Ecology Movement, Arne Naess' has produced articles on environmentalism that have provided unmatched inspiration for ecologists, philosophers, and activists worldwide. This collection amasses a definitive group of Naess' most important works in which he calls for nonviolent, cooperative action to protect the Earth. Rich with observations, insights, and anecdotes, Naess' writings draw from Eastern religious practices, Gandhian nonviolent direct action, and Spinozan uni...

The Green Halo is a highly readable introduction to the vast field of contemporary ecological thought. It is a basic education in environmental philosophy and a welcome propadeutic for understanding the most crucial problem facing humankind in the coming century: How can humans live on this earth so that they do not destroy the preconditions for their own existence?

There exists an undeniable chasm between the capacities of humans and those of animals. Our minds have spawned civilizations and technologies that have changed the face of the Earth, whereas even our closest animal relatives sit unobtrusively in their dwindling habitats. Yet despite longstanding debates, the nature of this apparent gap has remained unclear. What exactly is the difference between our minds and theirs?In The Gap, psychologist Thomas Suddendorf provides a def...

"The name Leakey is synonymous with the study of human origins," wrote The New York Times. The renowned family of paleontologists -- Louis Leakey, Mary Leakey, and their son Richard Leakey -- has vastly expanded our understanding of human evolution. The Origin of Humankind is Richard Leakey's personal view of the development of Homo Sapiens. At the heart of his new picture of evolution is the introduction of a heretical notion: once the first apes walked upright, the evol...

In Anthropology and Social Theory the award-winning anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner draws on her longstanding interest in theories of cultural practice to rethink key concepts of culture, agency, and subjectivity for the social sciences of the twenty-first century. The seven theoretical and interpretive essays in this volume each advocate reconfiguring, rather than abandoning, the concept of culture. Similarly, they all suggest that a theory which depends on the interested action ...

A bold, illuminating new take on the love of animals that drove human evolution.Why do humans all over the world take in and nurture other animals? This behavior might seem maladaptive—after all, every mouthful given to another species is one that you cannot eat—but in this heartening new study, acclaimed anthropologist Pat Shipman reveals that our propensity to domesticate and care for other animals is in fact among our species' greatest strengths. For the last 2.6 million years, ...