Individuality and Entanglement by Herbert Gintis
In this book, acclaimed economist Herbert Gintis ranges widely across many fields--including economics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, moral philosophy, and biology--to provide a rigorous transdisciplinary explanation of some fundamental characteristics of human societies and social behavior. Because such behavior can be understood only through transdisciplinary research, Gintis argues, Individuality and Entanglement advances the effort to unify the behavioral sciences by developing a shared analytical framework--one that bridges research on gene-culture coevolution, the rational-actor model, game theory, and complexity theory. At the same time, the book persuasively demonstrates the rich possibilities of such transdisciplinary work. Everything distinctive about human social life, Gintis argues, flows from the fact that we construct and then play social games. Indeed, society itself is a game with rules, and politics is the arena in which we affirm and change these rules. Individuality is central to our species because the rules do not change through inexorable macrosocial forces. Rather, individuals band together to change the rules. Our minds are also socially entangled, producing behavior that is socially rational, although it violates the standard rules of individually rational choice. Finally, a moral sense is essential for playing games with socially constructed rules. People generally play by the rules, are ashamed when they break the rules, and are offended when others break the rules, even in societies that lack laws, government, and jails. Throughout the book, Gintis shows that it is only by bringing together the behavioral sciences that such basic aspects of human behavior can be understood.
"This is a masterly and path-breaking book by one of the most complete behavioral scientists of all time, Herbert GintisIt seeks to unify the behavioral sciences and to provide a core analytical framework. It should be required reading for every student of behavioral science and will play a critical role in the development of the behavioral sciences. . . . I would unhesitatingly give it a five-star-plus rating."---Sanjit Dhami, Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture
Herbert Gintis is an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He is the author, coauthor, or coeditor of a number of books, including Game Theory Evolving, The Bounds of Reason, Unequal Chances, A Cooperative Species, and Game Theory in Action (all Princeton).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780691172910 |
| ISBN 10 | 0691172919 |
| Title | Individuality and Entanglement |
| Author | Herbert Gintis |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Publisher | Princeton University Press |
| Year published | 2016-11-08 |
| Number of pages | 384 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |