The Reciprocal Modular Brain in Economics and Politics: Shaping the Rational and Moral Basis of Organization, Exchange, and Choice - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0306461838 ISBN 13: 9780306461835

Publisher: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 1999

Synopsis

The present work is an extension of my doctoral thesis done at Stanford in the early 1970s. In one clear sense it responds to the call for consilience by Edward O. Wilson. I agree with Wilson that there is a pressing need in the sciences today for the unification of the social with the natural sciences. I consider the present work to proceed from the perspective of behavioral ecology, specifically a subfield which I choose to call interpersonal behavioral ecology th Ecology, as a general field, has emerged in the last quarter of the 20 century as a major theme of concern as we have become increasingly aware that we must preserve the planet whose limited resources we share with all other earthly creatures. Interpersonal behavioral ecology, however, focuses not on the physical environment, but upon our social environment. It concerns our interpersonal behavioral interactions at all levels, from simple dyadic one-to-one personal interactions to our larger, even global, social, economic, and political interactions. Interpersonal behavioral ecology, as I see it, then, is concerned with our behavior toward each other, from the most obvious behaviors of war between nations, to excessive competition, exploitation, crime, abuse, and even to the ways in which we interact with each other as individuals in the family, in our social lives, in the workplace, and in the marketplace.

About this title

Review

`... a major contribution to the dialogue on how knowledge of neuroscience can be applied to understanding the functions and effects of economic and social institutions.'
Prof. Daniel S. Levine, University of Texas and past President, International Neural Network Society
`... this will become a classic book.'
Dr. Russell Gardner Jr., Chairman, World Psychiatric Association, Psychotherapy Section
`I consider [his] work to be path-breaking and immensely important. To my knowledge, it has no counterpart in the literature.'
Prof. Kurt Steiner, Stanford University

Synopsis

This book draws on the research and insights of Paul MacLean in his book, "The Triune Brain", as well as the work of Abraham Maslow, to show that reciprocity, not conflict, is the endpoint of human development. As such, Cory uses neuroscience as the bridge between the natural and the social sciences. The modular view of the computational brain is tied to insights of evolutionary biology. Strongly endorsed by Edward O. Wilson, Paul MacLean, and Kurt Steiner.

Edition details

• Publisher: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0306461838
• ISBN 13: 9780306461835
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 144
• Editor: Cory Jr. Gerald A.