Evolutionary Psychology (PDF)

According to evolutionary biologists, we are the minders of our
genes. But, as Christopher Badcock points out in this book, it is
only recently that evolutionists have realized that minders need
minds, and that evolution needs psychology to fill the yawning gap
between genes and behaviour.

Evolutionary Psychology assumes no prior knowledge of the
subject, and concentrates on the fundamental issues raised by the
application of modern Darwinism to psychology. Basic concepts of
evolution are explained carefully, so that the reader has a sound
grasp of them before their often controversial application to
psychology is discussed. The approach is a critical one, and the
author does not hide the many difficulties that evolutionary
psychology raises. Examples include the strange neglect of Darwin's
own writings on psychology, and the fact that no existing theory
has succeeded in explaining why the human brain evolved in the
first place.

The book is the first to give a non-technical account of
remarkable new findings about the roles that conflicting genes play
in building different parts of the brain. It is also the first to
consider the consequences of this for controversies like those over
nature/nurture, IQ, brain lateralization and consciousness.

Evolutionary Psychology is based on many years
experience of teaching evolution and psychology to social science
students, and is intended for all who wish to get to grips with the
basic issues of one of the most exciting and rapidly growing areas
of modern science.