A Biological Theory of Law

A Biological Theory of Law
Author: Hendrik Gommer
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2011
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781461094050

Our brain is a fractal structure that can grow thanks to some genes that contain a code, a formula that generates this structure. The basis of evolutionary sociology is that our brain will prompt behavior that is to the benefit of the spreading of our genes. Although people are unaware of it, they generally behave in ways that optimize the reproduction of their genes. Because they need resources from their environment (in the broadest sense of the word), they will show behavior that is conducive to procuring or securing as many resources as possible. To accomplish this mis-sion, people, being social animals, work together. The older parts of our brain (older in an evolutionary sense) make cooperation possible by means of emotion. The younger parts make it possible to formulate rules that reflect these emotions. In other words, these rules derive from factual, biological mechanisms. People experience these rules as “normative,” and as “ethical,” but even so, these rules are products of evolution. We, that is our brains, formulate them because they help our genes to spread. This, in a nutshell, is the biological theory of law as described in this book. Although philosophers of law and even sociobiologists are reluctant to concur that norms can be justified by biological mechanisms, this is what it takes to make a major step forward in the integration of biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and law.This book is a legalist's implicit answer to the ideas of Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, Richard Alexander, James Q. Wilson, Daniel Dennet, Matt Ridley, Frans de Waal, and other sociobiologists. By introducing fractals and important aspects of law, it further enhances our insights in human behavior. Free riders by heart use law to improve their reproduction, and thus feel happy.

What Makes Biology Unique?

What Makes Biology Unique?
Author: Ernst Mayr
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2007-04-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521700344

This book, a collection of essays written by the most eminent evolutionary biologist of the twentieth century, explores biology as an autonomous science, offers insights on the history of evolutionary thought, critiques the contributions of philosophy to the science of biology, and comments on several of the major ongoing issues in evolutionary theory. Notably, Mayr explains that Darwin's theory of evolution is actually five separate theories, each with its own history, trajectory and impact. Natural selection is a separate idea from common descent, and from geographic speciation, and so on. A number of the perennial Darwinian controversies may well have been caused by the confounding of the five separate theories into a single composite. Those interested in evolutionary theory, or the philosophy and history of science will find useful ideas in this book, which should appeal to virtually anyone with a broad curiosity about biology.

Biological Autonomy

Biological Autonomy
Author: Alvaro Moreno
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2015-05-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9401798370

Since Darwin, Biology has been framed on the idea of evolution by natural selection, which has profoundly influenced the scientific and philosophical comprehension of biological phenomena and of our place in Nature. This book argues that contemporary biology should progress towards and revolve around an even more fundamental idea, that of autonomy. Biological autonomy describes living organisms as organised systems, which are able to self-produce and self-maintain as integrated entities, to establish their own goals and norms, and to promote the conditions of their existence through their interactions with the environment. Topics covered in this book include organisation and biological emergence, organisms, agency, levels of autonomy, cognition, and a look at the historical dimension of autonomy. The current development of scientific investigations on autonomous organisation calls for a theoretical and philosophical analysis. This can contribute to the elaboration of an original understanding of life - including human life - on Earth, opening new perspectives and enabling fecund interactions with other existing theories and approaches. This book takes up the challenge.

The Anatomy of Violence

The Anatomy of Violence
Author: Adrian Raine
Publisher: Pantheon
Total Pages: 501
Release: 2013
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0307378845

Provocative and timely: a pioneering neurocriminologist introduces the latest biological research into the causes of--and potential cures for--criminal behavior. With an 8-page full-color insert, and black-and-white illustrations throughout.

On the Law Which Has Regulated the Introduction of New Species

On the Law Which Has Regulated the Introduction of New Species
Author: Alfred Russel Wallace
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
Total Pages: 26
Release: 2016-05-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1473362512

This early work by Alfred Russel Wallace was originally published in 1855 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'On the Law Which Has Regulated the Introduction of New Species' is an article that details Wallace's ideas on the natural arrangement of species and their successive creation. Alfred Russel Wallace was born on 8th January 1823 in the village of Llanbadoc, in Monmouthshire, Wales. Wallace was inspired by the travelling naturalists of the day and decided to begin his exploration career collecting specimens in the Amazon rainforest. He explored the Rio Negra for four years, making notes on the peoples and languages he encountered as well as the geography, flora, and fauna. While travelling, Wallace refined his thoughts about evolution and in 1858 he outlined his theory of natural selection in an article he sent to Charles Darwin. Wallace made a huge contribution to the natural sciences and he will continue to be remembered as one of the key figures in the development of evolutionary theory.

Biology at Work

Biology at Work
Author: Kingsley R. Browne
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2002-06-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0813542472

Does biology help explain why women, on average, earn less money than men? Is there any evolutionary basis for the scarcity of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies? According to Kingsley Browne, the answer may be yes. Biology at Work brings an evolutionary perspective to bear on issues of women in the workplace: the "glass ceiling," the "gender gap" in pay, sexual harassment, and occupational segregation. While acknowledging the role of discrimination and sexist socialization, Browne suggests that until we factor real biological differences between men and women into the equation, the explanation remains incomplete. Browne looks at behavioral differences between men and women as products of different evolutionary pressures facing them throughout human history. Womens biological investment in their offspring has led them to be on average more nurturing and risk averse, and to value relationships over competition. Men have been biologically rewarded, over human history, for displays of strength and skill, risk taking, and status acquisition. These behavioral differences have numerous workplace consequences. Not surprisingly, sex differences in the drive for status lead to sex differences in the achievement of status. Browne argues that decision makers should recognize that policies based on the assumption of a single androgynous human nature are unlikely to be successful. Simply removing barriers to inequality will not achieve equality, as women and men typically value different things in the workplace and will make different workplace choices based on their different preferences. Rather than simply putting forward the "nature" side of the debate, Browne suggests that dichotomies such as nature/nurture have impeded our understanding of the origins of human behavior. Through evolutionary biology we can understand not only how natural selection has created predispositions toward certain types of behavior but also how the social environment interacts with these predispositions to produce observed behavioral patterns.

Theories of Deviance

Theories of Deviance
Author: Stuart H. Traub
Publisher: F.E. Peacock Publishers
Total Pages: 328
Release: 1975
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Dance to the Tune of Life

Dance to the Tune of Life
Author: Denis Noble
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2017
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1107176247

This book formulates a relativistic theory of biology, challenging the common gene-centred view of organisms.

The Structure of Biological Theories

The Structure of Biological Theories
Author: Paul Thompson
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 162
Release: 1989-03-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1438422067

The central thesis of this book is that the semantic conception is a logical methodologically and heuristically richer and more accurate account of scientific theorizing, and in particular of theorizing in evolutionary biology, than the more widely adhered to syntactic conception. In this book, the author outlines both the conceptions indicating the significant problems with the syntactic conception; explains and criticizes two influential syntactic-conception accounts of the structure of evolutionary theorizing. Thompson also argues that the semantic conception provides a richer and more accurate understanding than the syntactic conception of sociobiological explanation, of the testability of sociobiology, and of the role of culture and cognition in evolutionary explanations of human behavior.

On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely From the Original Type

On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely From the Original Type
Author: Alfred Russel Wallace
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
Total Pages: 20
Release: 2016-05-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1473362555

This early work by Alfred Russel Wallace was originally published in 1858 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely From the Original Type' is a short article on variation and evolutionary theory. Alfred Russel Wallace was born on 8th January 1823 in the village of Llanbadoc, in Monmouthshire, Wales. Wallace was inspired by the travelling naturalists of the day and decided to begin his exploration career collecting specimens in the Amazon rainforest. He explored the Rio Negra for four years, making notes on the peoples and languages he encountered as well as the geography, flora, and fauna. While travelling, Wallace refined his thoughts about evolution and in 1858 he outlined his theory of natural selection in an article he sent to Charles Darwin. Wallace made a huge contribution to the natural sciences and he will continue to be remembered as one of the key figures in the development of evolutionary theory.