The Evolution of Love

by Ada Lampert

Overview

Lampert presents the story of love: when, why, and how love became a central experience of humans. Assuming that our world is built of matter, she states that evolution is the change of this matter, according to the supreme criterion of success in offspring reproduction. Love evolved because of its contribution to reproduction. It first appeared in the mothers of mammals, who used the body's proximity as a main adaptation. Human love expands its borders to include the relationships between women and men, friends, and even nonhuman subjects. Lampert describes motherhood as the source of the genetic, hormonal, brain, and behavioral changes that we call love. In the sexual stage, love enters both as a way to select a partner and as a bonding force. Sexuality is built upon ancient layers of early forms of life, before humanity, and includes strong elements of aggression which interrupt our ability to experience a peaceful sexual life. Maternal love and sexual love combine in the evolution of the family. Lampert also examines homosexual love as a way to look at the fascinating process of growing sexual identity and behavior in an individual.

Written in a style suited to any educated person, Lampert uses current scientific knowledge on the brain, hormones, the nervous system, ethology, psychology, and even modern physics to make her case. This book will be of interest to students and scholars alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275959074
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/16/1997
Series:	Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence
Pages:	159
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.38(d)
Lexile:	1190L (what's this?)

About the Author

ADA LAMPERT is Senior Lecturer in Evolutionary Psychology in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at the Ruppin Institute in Israel. Her research combines the psychology of emotions, sex differences, love, and the family with genetic, hormonal, and evolutionary thinking. Her earlier books have appeared in Hebrew.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Love Is Matter
Genes for Love
The Appearance of Love
Motherly Love in Humans
Motherhood Speaks
Maternal Love as Model
Evolution of a Loving Brain
Hierarchy of Love Styles in the Brain
Hierarchy of Sexual Styles in the Brain
The Evolution of Sexuality
Sexual Strategies
Long Term Bonding
Evolution of the Family
Mate Selection
Homosexual Love
Epilogue
Sources and Further Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

Does evolution determine our love lives? From the viewpoint of Darwinian natural selection, Lambert (evolutionary psychology, Ruppin Institute, Israel) weaves a DNA, grey matter, and hormone-based tale of sexuality and human bondings (familial, maternal, heterosexual, and homosexual). Love has a survival advantage; the warm-bloodedness and warm emotions of mammals are related. The author presents some intriguing research, but without considering alternative explanations: e.g. her own finding of a correlation between increased breast cancer incidence and childhood separations; the genetic similarity of couples; and the negative imprinting averting incest among unrelated Kibbutz-raised Israeli "siblings." Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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