The Study of Human Nature: A Reader / Edition 2

by Leslie Stevenson

Overview

Now in a new edition, this exceptional anthology provides an introduction to a wide variety of views on human nature. Drawing from diverse cultures over three millennia, Leslie Stevenson has chosen selections ranging from ancient religious texts to contemporary theories based on evolutionary science. An ideal companion to the editor's recent book, Ten Theories of Human Nature, 3/e (OUP, 1998), this interdisciplinary reader can also be used independently.
The Study of Human Nature, 2/e offers substantial selections illustrating the ten perspectives discussed in Ten Theories of Human Nature, 4/e—The Bible, Hinduism, Confucianism, Plato, Kant, Marx, Freud, Sartre, B.F. Skinner's behaviorism, and Konrad Lorenz's ethological diagnosis of human aggression. The Islamic tradition is represented by a selection from the 20th-century Iranian philosopher Ayatullah Murtaza Mutahhari. The 17th- and 18th-century philosophers Descartes, Hobbes, Hume, Rousseau, and Kant are also represented. Selections from Rousseau, J.S. Mill, and Nancy Holmstrom discuss alleged differences between women and men, and a paper by Henry Bracken deals with racial issues. Examples from E.O. Wilson's sociobiology and his critics are also included, together with material from Chomsky and from recent evolutionary psychology.
This new edition includes more substantial selections from the Hindu, Confucian, and Christian traditions and provides more accessible extracts from Marx, Sartre, and Lorenz. An excellent reader for introductory courses in philosophy, religious studies, human nature, and intellectual history, The Study of Human Nature, 2/e, is also an essential resource for anyone interested in ancient, modern, and contemporary perspectives on human nature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195127157
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/11/1999
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 5.49(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

University of St. Andrews

Table of Contents

PrefaceTHE HEBREW BIBLE (the Old Testament)Genesis 1-3PsalmsHINDUISMBrihad Aranyaka UpanishadKatha UpanishadCONFUCIANISMMencius, "Human Nature is Good"Hsun-tzu, "Human Nature is Evil"PLATORepublicCHRISTIANITY (the New Testament)St. Paul, Letter to the RomansSt. Paul, First Letter to the CorinthiansISLAMAyatullah Murtaza Mutahhari, "Man and Faith"RENÉ DESCARTESDiscourse on MethodTHOMAS HOBBESLeviathanDAVID HUMETreatise of Human NatureJEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAUEmileIMMANUEL KANTAnthropology from a Pragmatic Point of ViewReligion within the Boundaries of Mere ReasonKARL MARXThe Materialist Theory of HistoryConsciousness and the Division of LabourJOHN STUART MILLThe Subjection of WomenCHARLES DARWINThe Descent of ManSIGMUND FREUDB.A. Farrell, "A Reconstruction of Freud's Mature Theory"JEAN-PAUL SARTREExistentialism and HumanismB.F. SKINNERAbout BehaviorismKONRAD LORENZOn AggressionNOAM CHOMSKY"Language and the Human Mind"HENRY M. BRACKEN"Essence, Accident and Race"EDWARD D. WILSONOn Human NatureNANCY HOLMSTROM"Do Women Have a Distinct Nature?"STEVEN ROSE, RICHARD LEWONTIN, AND LEON J. KAMINNot in our Genes: Biology, Ideology and Human NatureMATT RIDLEYThe Origins of Virtue