Evolution of Social Instincts

[George Duncan-2]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kingsley Purdam <[hidden email]>
Date: Mon, May 18, 2009 at 2:44 AM
Subject: [CCSR-SEMINARS] Social Instincts - CCSR Seminar
To: [hidden email]


Dear all, the CCSR seminar series concludes on Tuesday with Professor Colin Talbot (MBS)

Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Public Administration and Specialist Adviser, Treasury Select Committee. http://whitehallwatch.wordpress.com/

Title: Homo Janus - between Homo Economicus and The Blank Slate

Abstract
Economics made enormous strides in colonizing other social sciences during the past 3 decades - whether explicit or not many social scientists use economic concepts of human behavior is shaping their theories. Economics posits a fairly simple model of humans as rational utility maximisers – H. Economicus. At the other end of the spectrum lies Standard Social Science Model (SSSM - see Barkow, Tooby and Cosmides 1995) or what Steven Pinker memorably calls the ‘Blank Slate’ model (Pinker 2002). This approach has been the more traditional underlying principle of much of sociology, anthropology, social psychology and political science. It assumes humans are infinitely malleable and shaped by experience and culture.
Both the above models – although their adherents would probably deny it – are by implication evolutionary. If H. Economicus were everywhere, regardless of culture, institutions, experience and the behavior of others a ‘rational utility maximiser’ then the only plausible explanation for this would be – we evolved that way. A similar argument applies to the ‘Blank Slate’.

This seminar will offer an alternative view of human evolution – that we do have an evolved set of social behaviors that are complemented by cultural/institutional expressions of these underlying traits. A whole host of modern approaches – from theories about altruism and its origins through to cultural theory (Wildavsky, Thompson and Ellis 1990), relational models theory (Fiske 1991) and competing values theory (Quinn 1988; Quinn and Cameron 1988) point in this direction – some more explicitly than others. These suggest a small of set of social “instincts’ that are contradictory, or paradoxical (Talbot 2005). This seminar will explore these ideas.

Seminars are held on Tuesdays from 4pm - 5.30pm. This final seminar is in a new venue - 1.69 Humanities Bridgeford Street building. Tea and coffee is available from 3.45pm.

All are welcome and no booking is necessary. Queries to  0161-275-4721.

See www.ccsr.ac.uk/seminars/ for up to date details.

Kingsley

Dr. Kingsley Purdam
[hidden email]
CCSR
University of Manchester
M13 9PL
UK

--
George T. Duncan
Professor of Statistics, Emeritus
Heinz College
Carnegie Mellon University
[phone]

Life must be understood backwards; but... it must be lived forward.
Soren Kierkegaard


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