A Foot in the River

Why Our Lives Change — and the Limits of Evolution

Nonfiction, History, Modern, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy
Cover of the book A Foot in the River by Felipe Fernández-Armesto, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Felipe Fernández-Armesto ISBN: 9780191061851
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: October 8, 2015
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Felipe Fernández-Armesto
ISBN: 9780191061851
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: October 8, 2015
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

We are a weird species. Like other species, we have a culture. But by comparison with other species, we are strangely unstable: human cultures self-transform, diverge, and multiply with bewildering speed. They vary, radically and rapidly, from time to time and place to place. And the way we live — our manners, morals, habits, experiences, relationships, technology, values — seems to be changing at an ever accelerating pace. The effects can be dislocating, baffling, sometimes terrifying. Why is this? In A Foot in the River, best-selling historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto sifts through the evidence and offers some radical answers to these very big questions about the human species and its history — and speculates on what these answers might mean for our future. Combining insights from a huge range of disciplines, including history, biology, anthropology, archaeology, philosophy, sociology, ethology, zoology, primatology, psychology, linguistics, the cognitive sciences, and even business studies, he argues that culture is exempt from evolution. Ultimately, no environmental conditions, no genetic legacy, no predictable patterns, no scientific laws determine our behaviour. We can consequently make and remake our world in the freedom of unconstrained imaginations. A revolutionary book which challenges scientistic assumptions about culture and how and why cultural change happens, A Foot in the River comes to conclusions which readers may well find by turns both daunting and also potentially hugely liberating.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

We are a weird species. Like other species, we have a culture. But by comparison with other species, we are strangely unstable: human cultures self-transform, diverge, and multiply with bewildering speed. They vary, radically and rapidly, from time to time and place to place. And the way we live — our manners, morals, habits, experiences, relationships, technology, values — seems to be changing at an ever accelerating pace. The effects can be dislocating, baffling, sometimes terrifying. Why is this? In A Foot in the River, best-selling historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto sifts through the evidence and offers some radical answers to these very big questions about the human species and its history — and speculates on what these answers might mean for our future. Combining insights from a huge range of disciplines, including history, biology, anthropology, archaeology, philosophy, sociology, ethology, zoology, primatology, psychology, linguistics, the cognitive sciences, and even business studies, he argues that culture is exempt from evolution. Ultimately, no environmental conditions, no genetic legacy, no predictable patterns, no scientific laws determine our behaviour. We can consequently make and remake our world in the freedom of unconstrained imaginations. A revolutionary book which challenges scientistic assumptions about culture and how and why cultural change happens, A Foot in the River comes to conclusions which readers may well find by turns both daunting and also potentially hugely liberating.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book On Sympathy by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book The Social Net by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Political Thought and International Relations by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Typhoon and Other Tales by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Radioactivity: A Very Short Introduction by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Preliminary References to the European Court of Justice by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Thick Evaluation by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Resurrection by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Faith and Its Critics by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book What I Require From Life by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book The Digitalization of Healthcare by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Global Catastrophes: A Very Short Introduction by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Anatomy of the Monocotyledons Volume X: Orchidaceae by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Inventing the Myth by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Cover of the book Blackstone's Magistrates' Court Handbook 2016 by Felipe Fernández-Armesto
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy