Bøger af Lionel Tiger

Why have sexual and family norms of American society changed so dramatically in the last few decades? Lionel Tiger presents a unique perspective, offering arresting evidence that the real issue is reproduction, a biological process. He argues that the spread of effective contraception, controlled by women, gives them the sole power to decide to, or not to, bear children. Removed from the process of reproduction, men have begun to feel obsolete, resulting in their unprecedented withdrawal from family systems.

In the fractious debate on the existence of God and the nature of religion, two distinguished authors radically alter the discussion. Taking a perspective rooted in evolutionary biology with a focus on brain science, the authors elucidate the perennial questions about religion: What is its purpose? How did it arise? What is its source? Why does every known culture have some form of it? Their answer is deceptively simple, yet at the same time highly complex: The brain creates religion and its varied concepts of God, and then in turn feeds on its creation to satisfy innate neurological and associated social needs. Brain science reveals that humans and other primates alike are afflicted by unavoidable sources of stress that the authors describe as "e;brainpain."e; To cope with this affliction people seek to "e;brainsoothe."e; We humans use religion and its social structures to induce brainsoothing as a relief for innate anxiety. How we do this is the subject of this groundbreaking book. In a concise, lively, accessible, and witty style, the authors combine zoom-lens vignettes of religious practices with discussions of the latest research on religion's neurological effects on the brain. Among other topics, they consider religion's role in providing positive socialization, its seeming obsession with regulating sex, creating an afterlife, how religion's rules of behavior influence the law, the common biological scaffolding between nonhuman primates and humans and how this affects religion, a detailed look at brain chemistry and how it changes as a result of stress, and evidence that the palliative effects of religion on brain chemistry is not matched by nonreligious remedies. Concluding with a checklist offering readers a means to compute their own "e;brainsoothe score,"e; this fascinating book provides key insights into the complexities of our brain and the role of religion, perhaps its most remarkable creation.

Disproportionate attention has long been paid to males in human and other social systems

When Men in Groups was first published in l969, the New York Times daily critic titled his review "The Disturbing Rediscovery of the Obvious

Pleasure is biologically desirable and good for physical and mental health

The author identifies some major forms of pleasure - sex, food, drugs, pets, plants, power and more - and explores their variations now and in the past. Pleasure, says Tiger, is not a luxury but an evolutionary entitlement that deserves to be taken seriously.

Male bonding characterizes human groups as varied as the Vatican Council, the New York Yankees, the Elks and Masons the secret societies of Sierra Leone and Kenya. The power of Tiger's book is its identification of the powerful links between men and the impact of females and families on essentially male groups

Disproportionate attention has long been paid to males in human and other social systems. This book explores stratification, sexual selection, and natural selection of what women do among themselves and how they relate to men.

The third edition of this popular text which explains McCarthyism and its successors in terms of conflicts over social status and the shape of American culture.

The Imperial Animal offers a compelling perspective on the controversy over humans and their biology