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Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels : How Human Values Evolve / Ian Morris; Stephen Macedo.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: The University Center for Human Values Series ; 41Publisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2015]Copyright date: ©2015Edition: UpdatedDescription: 1 online resource : 2 halftones. 28 line illus. 2 tables. 6 mapsContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691160399
  • 9781400865512
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 303.4 23
LOC classification:
  • GN469 .M67 2015eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Figures and Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction / Macedo, Stephen -- Chapter 1. Each Age Gets the Thought it Needs -- Chapter 2. Foragers -- Chapter 3. Farmers -- Chapter 4. Fossil Fuels -- Chapter 5. The Evolution of Values: Biology, Culture, and the Shape of Things to Come -- Comments -- Chapter 6. On the Ideology of Imagining That "Each Age Gets the Thought It Needs" / Seaford, Richard -- Chapter 7. But What Was It Really Like? The Limitations of Measuring Historical Values / Spence, Jonathan D. -- Chapter 8. Eternal Values, Evolving Values, and the Value of the Self / Korsgaard, Christine M. -- Chapter 9. When the Lights Go Out: Human Values after the Collapse of Civilization / Atwood, Margaret -- Response -- Chapter 10. My Correct Views on Everything / Morris, Ian -- Notes -- References -- Contributors -- Index
Summary: Most people in the world today think democracy and gender equality are good, and that violence and wealth inequality are bad. But most people who lived during the 10,000 years before the nineteenth century thought just the opposite. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, biology, and history, Ian Morris explains why. Fundamental long-term changes in values, Morris argues, are driven by the most basic force of all: energy. Humans have found three main ways to get the energy they need-from foraging, farming, and fossil fuels. Each energy source sets strict limits on what kinds of societies can succeed, and each kind of society rewards specific values. But if our fossil-fuel world favors democratic, open societies, the ongoing revolution in energy capture means that our most cherished values are very likely to turn out not to be useful any more. Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels offers a compelling new argument about the evolution of human values, one that has far-reaching implications for how we understand the past-and for what might happen next. Originating as the Tanner Lectures delivered at Princeton University, the book includes challenging responses by classicist Richard Seaford, historian of China Jonathan Spence, philosopher Christine Korsgaard, and novelist Margaret Atwood.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781400865512

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Figures and Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction / Macedo, Stephen -- Chapter 1. Each Age Gets the Thought it Needs -- Chapter 2. Foragers -- Chapter 3. Farmers -- Chapter 4. Fossil Fuels -- Chapter 5. The Evolution of Values: Biology, Culture, and the Shape of Things to Come -- Comments -- Chapter 6. On the Ideology of Imagining That "Each Age Gets the Thought It Needs" / Seaford, Richard -- Chapter 7. But What Was It Really Like? The Limitations of Measuring Historical Values / Spence, Jonathan D. -- Chapter 8. Eternal Values, Evolving Values, and the Value of the Self / Korsgaard, Christine M. -- Chapter 9. When the Lights Go Out: Human Values after the Collapse of Civilization / Atwood, Margaret -- Response -- Chapter 10. My Correct Views on Everything / Morris, Ian -- Notes -- References -- Contributors -- Index

Most people in the world today think democracy and gender equality are good, and that violence and wealth inequality are bad. But most people who lived during the 10,000 years before the nineteenth century thought just the opposite. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, biology, and history, Ian Morris explains why. Fundamental long-term changes in values, Morris argues, are driven by the most basic force of all: energy. Humans have found three main ways to get the energy they need-from foraging, farming, and fossil fuels. Each energy source sets strict limits on what kinds of societies can succeed, and each kind of society rewards specific values. But if our fossil-fuel world favors democratic, open societies, the ongoing revolution in energy capture means that our most cherished values are very likely to turn out not to be useful any more. Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels offers a compelling new argument about the evolution of human values, one that has far-reaching implications for how we understand the past-and for what might happen next. Originating as the Tanner Lectures delivered at Princeton University, the book includes challenging responses by classicist Richard Seaford, historian of China Jonathan Spence, philosopher Christine Korsgaard, and novelist Margaret Atwood.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)