Table of Contents

Preface:
Chapter 1. Nature and Nurture
The Confrontation and Its Background
Public Interest in the Issue
Toward a Resolution of the Conflict
Chapter 2. Heritage from the Distant Past
The Issue of the "Selfish Gene"
Fundamental Elements for Humanity
Learning
Our Ancient Heritage
Chapter 3. Tools for the Transition
The Evolutionary Gamble
The Relevance of Human Speech to Tool-Making
On the Origin of Language
Language and the Brain
The Emotions
Ritual
Psychological Miscellany
Chapter 4. Affect Hunger
Definition
The Ethology of Infancy
The Chemistry of Affect Hunger
The Brain and Affect Hunger
Affect Hunger and the Social Order
Chapter 5. Revolution in the Nursery
Summary of Our Heritage
The Nature of the Revolution
"Intrinsic" Indoctrination of Personality
An Unanticipated Experiment
Affect and Adulthood
Chapter 6. Culture
Definition of Culture
Language as Communication of Cultural Understanding
Ritual as Communication of Cultural Sentiment
Careers
Reinforcement
Cultural Adaptability
Summary
Chapter 7. Cultural Evolution
The Nature of Cultural Evolution
The Search for Eden
Ecological Adaptations
Belonging and the Self: Kinship
Clans
Urban Transformations
Possessions and the Self
Arête
Affect Deprivation
Chapter 8. Body and Soul
The Ontology of Reality
Body
Soul
The Soul and Culture
Chapter 9. A View of the Bridge
Duality
Affect Hunger
Love
Language
Fabrication
Communicating Feeling
Cultural Worlds
The Symbolic Self
Affect Hunger and Cultural Evolution
Self and Other
One Final Thought
Coda:
References Cited:
Index:

Reviews

"Finally, a cultural anthropologist who understands biology! Graced with the gifts of clarity and brevity, Goldschmidt has contributed the best short book on human nature and culture that has appeared in many years."--Melvin Konner, M.D., Ph.D., author of The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit and Samuel C. Dobbs Professor of Anthropology, Emory University
"An exceptional book. To my mind, it should be required reading for all anthropology majors and incoming anthropology graduate students. Goldschmidt provides a sophisticated appraisal of the biological and cultural components that underlie human evolution and behavior."--Robert Sussman, Washington University
"Dr. Goldschmidt is both an extremely sharp and original thinker and a very, very respected 'elder' in our tribe. He knows the field as do few, if any, others. . . . An amazingly original and insightful book."--Eugene Anderson, University of California, Riverside
"My students and I enjoyed the book immensely. Goldschmidt offers a truly insightful synthesis of the influence of genes and environment on behavior. He demonstrates a keen awareness of and appreciation for our genetic predispositions for and constraints on learning. His insight into the need for what he terms "affect hunger", and the early influence by caretakers on molding personality and culture-specific behaviors is enlightening, even after years of
learning and thinking about the enculturation process." - Barbara J. Welker, SUNY Geneseo
"Finally, a cultural anthropologist who understands biology! Graced with the gifts of clarity and brevity, Goldschmidt has contributed the best short book on human nature and culture that has appeared in many years."--Melvin Konner, M.D., Ph.D., author of The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit and Samuel C. Dobbs Professor of Anthropology, Emory University
"An exceptional book. To my mind, it should be required reading for all anthropology majors and incoming anthropology graduate students. Goldschmidt provides a sophisticated appraisal of the biological and cultural components that underlie human evolution and behavior."--Robert Sussman, Washington University
"Dr. Goldschmidt is both an extremely sharp and original thinker and a very, very respected 'elder' in our tribe. He knows the field as do few, if any, others. . . . An amazingly original and insightful book."--Eugene Anderson, University of California, Riverside