Beyond Human Nature: How Culture and Experience Shape the Human Mind (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780393061758)

In this era of genome projects and brain scans, it is all too easy to overestimate the role of biology in human psychology. But in this passionate corrective to the idea that DNA is destiny, Jesse Prinz focuses on the most extraordinary aspect of human nature: that nurture can supplement and supplant nature, allowing our minds to be profoundly influenced by experience and culture. Drawing on cutting-edge research in neuroscience, psychology, and anthropology, Prinz shatters the myth of human uniformity and reveals how our differing cultures and life experiences make each of us unique. Along the way he shows that we can't blame mental illness or addiction on our genes, and that societal factors shape gender differences in cognitive ability and sexual behavior. A much-needed contribution to the nature-nurture debate, Beyond Human Nature shows us that it is only through the lens of nurture that the spectrum of human diversity becomes fully and brilliantly visible.

Author: Jesse J. Prinz
ISBN-10: 0393061752
ISBN-13: 9780393061758
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Language: English
Published: 11/19/2012
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.63lbs
Size: 9.44h x 6.45w x 1.28d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 09/01/2012 pg. 17
Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2012
Library Journal 11/01/2012 pg. 84
New York Times Book Review 05/05/2013 pg. 17
Choice 08/01/2013