Essential Building Blocks of Human Nature

To understand why we humans are as we are, it is necessary to look at the essential building blocks thatcomprise our nature. The foundations of this structureareour evolutionary origins as primates and our social roots. Upon these rest features such as ouremotions, language and aesthetic preferences, with ourself-perceptions, self-deceptions and thirst for knowledge right at the top. The unifying force holding these blocks together is evolutionary theory. Evolution provides a deeper understanding ofhuman nature and, in particular,of thecommon roots of these different perspectives. To build a reliable and coherent model of man, leading authors from fields as diverse as primatology, anthropology, neurobiology and philosophy have joined forces to present essays each describing their own expert perspective. Together they provide a convincing and complete picture of our own humannature.