Evolution & Humankind
Overview
Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution. Musing about the Darwinian revolution, evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky used this as a title for one of his lectures. Even beyond biology, evolutionary thinking has radically changed our perceptions of ourselves, our world, and our notions of what it means to be human. This cluster examines these and other issues from the perspectives of anthropology, biology, history, sociology, and philosophy, and is especially appropriate for students interested in the ethical and social dimensions of scientific inquiry and investigation.
Courses
Seminar: Biology 93FCS Biodiversity: Human Impacts Versus the Forces of Nature
Anne Yoder, Professor, Departments of Biology and Biological Anthropology & Anatomy; Director, Duke Lemur Center
The Earth’s biota is distributed across the planet according to strong, and often
competing, biological and geological forces. Over the course of recent history, however,
humans have had an increasing impact on these “natural” patterns via the transmission
of diseases, the movement of plants and animals from one place to another, and notoriously, through
habitat destruction. This course will begin by examining the biological, geological and
climatological phenomena that are believed to have been the major determinants of patterns of
biodiversity distribution. The course will then move into more contemporary and human impacts. We
will explore questions such as: What are natural patterns of biotic distribution? Are human
effects natural? What should and can be done to mitigate the human impact on biodiversity
distribution? Readings will be drawn from a wide variety of sources, from some published
more than a century ago, up through the contemporary popular press.
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Seminar: History 89FCS Evolution Past & Present
Jonathan Shaw, Professor, Department of Biology
Seminar: Philosophy 98FCS Evolution & Human Nature
Robert Brandon, Professor, Department of Philosophy
This course looks at attempts to apply evolutionary theory to human behavior and human social
systems, what is now called human sociobiology. We will start with readings from Charles
Darwin: from there move to the middle part of the 20th Century and read selections from the
ethologist Konrad Lorenz and the evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky; next we will look at
contemporary sociobiology; and we will end with critiques of human sociobiology, especially those
emphasizing the effects of cultural evolution. The latter shed new light on the age old
nature⁄nurture controversy. Throughout the course we will consider the ethical
implications of sociobiology.
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Seminar: Biology 93FCS Emotion, Evolution & Ethics
Dan McShea, Professor, Department of Biology
Fear, love, anger, pride, regret, envy—the emotions seem to play a big role in our lives, as well as in the lives of certain other animal species. But what are the emotions? Are they guides to behavior? Are they judgments, or perhaps biases that deflect judgment? Or perhaps they are epiphenomenal—mere side effects of other mental processes, essentially irrelevant to proper mental function. The course explores what the emotions are, what they are for, and how they evolved. We begin with readings of some classic treatments of behavior and emotional psychology in certain animal species, including gulls, lions, and chimpanzees. We then consider emotions in humans, reading selections from important works in evolutionary biology, literature, psychology, neurobiology, politics, and ethics. A central issue throughout will be the role of the emotions in behavior and judgment, especially moral judgment.
Readings include (selections from): The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (Darwin),
The Ants(Holldobler and Wilson), The Herring Gull’s World (Tinbergen), Chimpanzee
Politics(de Waal), Middlemarch (Eliot), Not Passion’s Slave: Emotions and
Choice (Solomon), Looking for Spinoza (Damasio), The Prince (Machiavelli),
and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (David Hume), and certain contemporary
philosophical treatments of biology and ethics.
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Focus 99 Special Topics in Focus: Evolution & Humankind
Robert Brandon, Professor, Department of Philosophy
Students faculty will meet weekly in this half-credit
course to discuss issues of common interest that bridge
the topics of individual seminar courses. Community activites include visits to the
Duke Lemur Center and the Duke Marine Lab.
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