Beyond Human Nature

How Culture and Experience Shape Our Lives

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We are constantly told that human traits - from aggression to gender differences - are 'hardwired'. In Beyond Human Nature Jesse J. Prinz reveals that it is the societies we live in, not our genes, that determine how we think and feel. From why mental illness differs so widely between cultures to how geography influences morals, from our sexual preferences to how we learn languages, he proves that the vast diversity of behaviour is not ingrained.

This is a book about humanity's power to transcend nature; and one that, ultimately, celebrates our differences.

Compelling ... urgent and persuasive ... This bracing book leads the charge against the idea that genetics explains all
James McConnachie, Sunday Times

About Jesse J Prinz

Details

Imprint: Penguin
Published: 31/01/2013
ISBN: 9780141019345
Length: 416 pages
Dimensions: 198mm x 23mm x 129mm
Weight: 303g
Price: £12.99

All editions

Paperback 2013
Ebook 2012

Beyond Human Nature

How Culture and Experience Shape Our Lives

Format:

Buy the book from:

Compelling ... urgent and persuasive ... This bracing book leads the charge against the idea that genetics explains all

A fine, balanced, enormously learned and informative blast on the trumpet of common sense and humane understanding.

The nature versus nurture tussle has been running for centuries, and into this fervid arena steps Jesse J. Prinz ... he explores the origins of knowledge, language, thought and emotion and argues that there is not one human nature, but many

Jesse Prinz wants to call a halt to the "century of the gene" ... in a backlash against the tyranny of DNA

Compelling arguments that cover a vast range of human behaviours ... [easy] to read ... We are not prisoners of our genes. The societies we have created by following careful rules of engagement largely leave us free to act as we see fit, for good - and bad

About Jesse J Prinz

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