Human Nature — Fact and Fiction by Edited by Robin Headlam Wells & Johnjoe McFadden. Published by Continuum, 2006, Paperback. <br /><br />Condition: Near Fine.<br /><br /> (www.booklovers.co.uk/search_results.asp?ID=166863)
First in this, paperback, edition. From the cover: What do we mean by human nature? Is there a genetically determined core of humanity that unites us all as members of a single species? Or is the thing we call human nature a social construct? And how do we explain the mystery of human creativity? Do great writers have an intuitive grasp of what makes human beings tick, or are they merely the mouthpiece of contemporary culture? It has been claimed that the greatest enterprise of the mind has always been and always will be the attempted linkage of the sciences and humanities (Edward O. Wilson). This ground-breaking book marks the beginning of a new dialogue between the two. Rather than focusing on the division between what C.P. Snow called the two cultures, it shows that the sciences and humanities have much to learn from each other. Points of disagreement remain. Yet there is in this volume a genuine attempt to bridge the gulf that has traditionally separated the sciences and humanities and to reach a better understanding of what it means to be human. Human Nature Fact and Fiction is a major new contribution to the debate on human nature, set to be required reading for anyone with a background in either the arts or the sciences who is interested in understanding what defines us as human beings in what we are, and why.
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