Page numbers refer to the print edition but are hyperlinked to the appropriate location in the e-book.
f denotes figure
achievability (of social change), 115
adaptive responses, 88, 100
adaptive strategies, 76, 88
anticipatory plasticity, 57
averages, population/trait, 70, 92, 103
behavior: niche construction and, 75; sexual differentiation in, 10, 15, 18–19, 36; as trick of rapid movement, 56
behavior–environment relations, intervention and changes in, 138
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (Pinker), 125
biotic niche construction, 63
Brave New World (Huxley), 101
capability, concept of, 138
Christian tradition, on human nature, 31
cognition, sexual differentiation in, 10, 15, 19, 36
conditional strategies, 75, 78
cost–benefit analysis, 21, 22, 27, 28–31, 33, 90, 91–92, 93, 96, 106, 110, 138
descriptive conceptions/premises, 7, 9, 11, 31, 72, 73
development: alternative possible trajectories, 105; atypical outcomes, 73
developmental program, 43, 49
developmental psychopathology model, 99
direct impression, 42, 54
discontinuous plasticity, 69
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (Le Guin), 102
dystopian fiction, 26, 101
ecological inheritance, 62, 64
ecological psychology, 53, 65
environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA), 12, 74
environments: choosing of, 97–114; modifying of, 62, 67, 73, 75–76, 88, 118–19, 126, 131 (see also niche construction); response to, 45, 49–50, 53–60, 62–64, 68–69, 75–76, 79–83, 88–89, 102–104, 125, 138–39 (see also plasticity; response functions; response perspective); roles of, 50
equality: excessive striving for, 91; form and degree of as good social goal, 109; gender equality, 10, 82, 108; of intellectual performance, 125; of outcomes, 25, 26, 45f, 108; social equality, 65, 108; value of, 107–108, 138
essentialist approach, 32
evaluation (of social change), 89–92
evolutionary approach/thinking, ix, x, 3
evolutionary psychology: basic theoretical framework of, 13; contributions of, 4; on costs of social change, 21–22; criticism of by feminists and others, 128; on freedom, 95–96, 97, 103–104; on happiness, 93–95, 97; on human nature, 15, 70, 86; and human possibilities, 2, 4, 135–40; implications of for social policy, 5; on individual variation, 71; on interaction between organism and environment, 86; on plasticity, 61; “pop” evolutionary psychology, 5; on prospects for social change, 34; relationship between feminism and, 6
facultative response model, 80–81
feasibility (of social change), 115–33
female characteristics, 77
female reproductive success, 78, 79
feminist evolutionary psychology, 6
Finland, education system of, 108
freedom: evolutionary psychology on, 95–96, 97, 103–104; loss of, as cost attending social change, 90
freely chosen expenditures, 112
gametes, size of as basic difference between sexes, 15–16
gender inequality, 8, 137
“good” characteristics, 105
happiness: costs to, 94–95; evolutionary psychology on, 93–95, 97; freedom’s relationship to, 104; a phenotypic trait, 27n; role of environments in determining, 101
human evolution, pace of, 75
human nature: Christian tradition on, 31; efforts to overcome, 33; evolutionary psychology on, 15, 70, 86; idea of as problematic, 31; limits set by, 21, 67, 128; representations of, 12–20; scientists on, 31; social institutions as expressing or restricting? 111
human possibilities: discussions about, 70; evolutionary approaches to, 3; evolutionary psychology and, 2, 4, 135–40; Gowaty’s picture of, 80; optimism about, 71, 110; range of, 37, 62; scope of, 2
human response functions: implications of plasticity for thinking about, 60; and longevity, 36; and sex-differentiated cognitive capacities and behaviors, 36; shapes of, 37, 69
imposed expenditures, 112
impossible dreams, pursuit of, 26
impression: direct impression, 42, 54; metaphor of, 45, 50; susceptibility to, 62
inequality: between genotypes, 45f; reductions in, 3; social inequality, 94; wealth inequality, 123
Inequality Reexamined (Sen), 109
intercultural antagonism, 14
internal interventions, 131
internalist view/internalism, 37–38, 39–40, 42, 43, 44, 65, 67, 89, 91, 93, 112, 115, 128
interventions: cautions with, 128; as changing phenotypes of whole population, 106; costs of, 25, 29–30; determining effectiveness of, 116; direct social intervention, 79; to disarm stereotype threat, 123–24; for homelessness, 123; internal interventions, 131; kinds of, 29–30, 90; large effects of some environmental interventions, 21, 51; moral acceptability of, 133; to reduce sex differences, 82; sex differences as exaggerated or created by environmental interventions, 65; small interventions compared to large interventions, 127, 128, 137; as triggering positive feedback cycles, 121; use of leverage points in identifying areas of, 138; wise interventions, 118, 122
Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste, 38
Le Guinean conclusion, 102
libertarian paternalism, 133
low-frequency genetic strategies, 72
Madonna–whore complex, 17–18
male reproductive success, 78–79
mating strategies, impact of on sex differences, 16–17, 18
men. See male
metaphors: of blank slate (see blank slate); of conservative interaction, 49; criticism of use of, 40; of direct impression, 42; for external influence, 42, 50; of genome-as-recipe, 44; of hardwiring (see hardwiring); of impression, 50; of interaction, 44, 49; of limited malleability (see limited malleability); for limits set by human nature, 21; of malleability (see malleability); misleading use of, 136; of plasticity, 54; of playing out of programs, 49; price of as eternal vigilance, 42; of programming, 39; of recipe, 43; of response, 45, 50, 51, 54; of sorting, 42, 50; of unfolding, 43, 50, 68; views about interaction of biological causes expressed in, 39
naturalistic fallacy, 8, 87
natural outcomes/environments, 87, 112
natural social systems, 112–13
niche construction, 4, 53, 62–66, 67, 75–76, 80, 88, 104, 111, 126, 137
nonadaptive plasticity, 55
normative conceptions/conclusions/implications, 7, 9, 22, 31, 43, 44, 49, 51, 72–73, 136
Nussbaum, Martha, 98, 101
Oakeshott, Michael, 25–26
On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 11
ontogeny, metaphor of, 50
perfect general equality, 108
personal: as biological, 82; as political, 82
physical niche construction, 63, 65
Pinker, Steven, ix, x, 5, 6, 24, 25–26, 32, 33, 87, 91, 92, 107, 112, 125–26, 129, 136
plasticity: active plasticity, 4, 54, 55, 59, 88; adaptive plasticity, 55, 56–57; anticipatory plasticity, 57; discontinuous plasticity, 69; in general, 4, 53–62, 64, 67, 68, 70, 73, 74, 76, 137; latent plasticity, 58; neuroplasticity, 56; nonadaptive plasticity, 55; passive plasticity, 54; phenotypic plasticity, 54–58, 76
potentials, evaluation of, 89
process structuralists, 38
resources, allocation of, 110–11
responsive sensitivity, 68–69
Romantics, on human nature, 31
Roots of Empathy Project, 124
Rotman Institute of Philosophy (University of Western Ontario), xi
Selfish Gene (Dawkins), 5
selfishness, Dawkins on, 22–23
self-sustaining systems, 113
sexual differentiation, in behavior and cognition, 10, 15, 18–19, 36
sexual double standard, 17
social arrangements, limitations of, 2
social change: achievability of, 115; aspirations for, 7; cost–benefit analysis of (see cost–benefit analysis); environment-driven, 85; evaluation of, 89–92; feasibility of, 115–33; likely occurrence of, 1; moral questions about, 5, 25; optimism about prospects for, 4; pessimism about prospects for, 3; prospects for according to evolutionary psychology, 107
social niche construction, 63, 65, 126
social possibilities/prospects, 3, 12, 20
sorting, metaphor of, 42, 50
species-typical outcomes/traits, 71, 103
stability, 37, 58, 59, 60, 62, 64, 66, 69, 75, 116
sustainability: of current social arrangements, 116–18, 123; of social change, 115
unfolding, metaphor of, 43, 50, 68
unhappiness, as cost attending social change, 90
unnatural environments, 112
unnatural phenotypes, 112
unnatural preferences, 95
utopia/utopians, 25, 33–34, 70, 76, 92, 101, 108, 112, 115, 135
well-being, as cost attending social change, 23, 24
West-Eberhard, Mary Jane, 49