Machiavellian Intelligence: Social Expertise and the Evolution of Intellect in Monkeys, Apes, and Humans - Brossura

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0198521758 ISBN 13: 9780198521754

Casa editrice: Oxford University Press, USA, 1989

Riassunto

This book presents an alternative to conventional ideas about the evolution of the human intellect. Instead of placing top priority on the role of tools, the pressure for their skillful use, and the related importance of interpersonal communication as a means for enhanced cooperation, this volume explores quite a different idea- that the driving force in the evolution of human intellect was social expertise-a force which enabled the manipulation of others within the social group, who themselves are seen as posing the most challenging problems faced by primitive humans. The need to outwit one's clever colleagues then produces an evolutionary spiraling of "Machiavellian intelligence" The book forms a complete and self-contained text on this fast-growing topic. It includes the origins of the basic premise and a wealth of exciting developments, described by an international team of authors from the fields of anthropology, psychology, and zoology. An evaluation of more traditional approaches is also undertaken, with a view to discovering to what extent Machiavellian intelligence represents a complementary concept or one that is truly an alternative. Readers and students will find this fascinating volume carries them to the frontiers of scientific work on the origin of human intellect.

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Recensione

'A highly cohesive book that will serve as an excellent introduction to social intelligence.' Nature

'By adding a few connecting chapters of their own in which they set out the issues clearly, they have created a highly cohesive book that will serve as an excellent introduction to social intelligence.'Nature February 1989

'.. an exceptionally important collection, of papers.' The Psychologist

`.. this book will surely become a standard point of departure for future work.' THES

`This book will be read and appreciated for two reasons. The first is that it raises or enhances our intellectual curiosity both about the evolution of social knowledge and about how social knowledge itself evolves. By so doing, the authors compel us to adjust our thinking about evolution and behaviour. The second is that it presents a novel and engaging format that teaches the reader.' Contemporary Psychology USA

Contenuti

Andrew Whiten & Richard Byrne: Editorial: The Machiavellian intelligence hypotheses; THE ORIGINS OF THE IDEA: Nicholas Humphrey: The social function of intellect; Alison Jolly: Lemur social behaviour and primate intelligence; Michael Chance & Allan Mead: Social behaviour and primate evolution; Andrew Whiten & Richard Byrne: Editorial: Taking (Machiavellian) intelligence apart; WHAT PRIMATES KNOW ABOUT SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS: Robert Seyfarth & Dorothy Cheney: Do monkeys understand their relationships?; Verena Dasser: Mapping social concepts in monkeys; Peter Smith: The cognitive demands of children's social interactions with peers; SOCIAL COMPLEXITY: THE EFFECT OF A THIRD PARTY: Hans Kummer: Tripartite relations in hamadryas baboons; Frans de Waal: Chimpanzee politics; Alexander Harcourt: Alliances in contests and social intelligence; ARE PRIMATES MIND-READERS?: Emil Menzel: A group of chimpanzees in a one-acre field: leadership and communication; David Premack: 'Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind' revisited; Daniel Dennett: The intentional stance in theory and practice; DECEPTION: Richard Byrne & Andrew Whiten: Tactical deception of familiar individuals in baboons; Andrew Whiten & Richard Byrne: The manipulation of attention in primate tactical deception; Sue Savage-Rumbaugh & Kelly McDonald: Deception and social manipulation in symbol-using apes; Peter LaFreniere: The ontogeny of tactical deception in humans; SOCIAL OR NON-SOCIAL ORIGINS OF INTELLIGENCE? Dorothy Cheney & Robert Seyfarth: Social and non-social knowledge in vervet monkeys; Thomas Wynn: Tools and the evolution of human intelligence; Katherine Milton: Foraging behaviour and the evolution of primate cognition; EXPLOITING THE EXPERTISE OF OTHERS: Eduard Stammbach: An experimental study of social knowledge: adaptation to the special manipulative skills of single individuals in a Macaca fascicularis group; Marc Hauser: Invention and social transmission: new data from wild vervet monkeys; TAKING STOCK: John Crook: The experiential context of intellect; Alison Jolly: The evolution of purpose; References; Index.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Oxford University Press, USA
• Data di pubblicazione: 1989
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0198521758
• ISBN 13: 9780198521754
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 432
• Redattore: Byrne Richard
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: Ufficio Anagrafiche Messaggerie; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; 20090; Italia