Human Universals
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| - | '''''Human Universals''''' is a book by [[Donald Brown (anthropologist)|Donald Brown]], an American professor of [[anthropology]] ([[emeritus]]) who worked at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]]. It was published by [[McGraw Hill]] in [[1991 in anthropology|1991]]. Brown says human universals, "comprise those features of culture, society, language, behavior, and psyche for which there are no known exception." He is quoted at length by [[Steven Pinker]] in an appendix to ''[[The Blank Slate]]'', where Pinker cites some of the hundreds of universals listed by Brown. However, Pinker's universals are not unique to humans. | + | |
| + | '''''Human Universals''''' is a book by [[Donald Brown (anthropologist)|Donald Brown]], an American professor of [[anthropology]] ([[emeritus]]) who worked at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]]. It was published by [[McGraw Hill]] in 1991. Brown says human universals, "comprise those features of culture, society, language, behavior, and psyche for which there are no known exception." | ||
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| + | According to Brown, there are many universals common to all human societies. | ||
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| + | [[Steven Pinker|Stephen Pinker]] lists all Brown's universals in the appendix of his book ''[[The Blank Slate]]''. The list includes several hundred universals, and notes Brown's later article on human universals in ''The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences''. Brown's universals are not all unique to humans, and many are realized differently in different societies. | ||
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| + | The list is seen by Brown (and Pinker) to be evidence of mental [[adaptation]]s to communal life in our species' evolutionary history. The issues raised by Brown's list are essentially [[darwinian]]. They occur in Darwin's ''[[Descent of Man]]'' (1871) and ''[[The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals]]'' (1872), and in Huxley's ''[[Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature]]'' (1863). The list gives little emphasis to the issues of [[aggression]], physical conflict and warfare, which have an extensive literature in [[ethology]]. Brown's list does have [[conflict (process)|conflict]] and its [[mediation]] as items. He also makes note of the fact that human males are more prone to violence and aggression than females. | ||
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| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| *[[Cultural universals]] | *[[Cultural universals]] | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
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Human Universals is a book by Donald Brown, an American professor of anthropology (emeritus) who worked at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It was published by McGraw Hill in 1991. Brown says human universals, "comprise those features of culture, society, language, behavior, and psyche for which there are no known exception."
According to Brown, there are many universals common to all human societies.
Stephen Pinker lists all Brown's universals in the appendix of his book The Blank Slate. The list includes several hundred universals, and notes Brown's later article on human universals in The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. Brown's universals are not all unique to humans, and many are realized differently in different societies.
The list is seen by Brown (and Pinker) to be evidence of mental adaptations to communal life in our species' evolutionary history. The issues raised by Brown's list are essentially darwinian. They occur in Darwin's Descent of Man (1871) and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), and in Huxley's Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature (1863). The list gives little emphasis to the issues of aggression, physical conflict and warfare, which have an extensive literature in ethology. Brown's list does have conflict and its mediation as items. He also makes note of the fact that human males are more prone to violence and aggression than females.
See also
