000 01640cam a2200217 i 4500
005 20151217124847.0
008 130916s2014 nyu b 001 0 eng
020 _a9781107038066 (hardback)
041 _aeng
082 0 0 _a303.3
_bHOF
100 1 _aHoffman, Morris B.,
_9805
245 1 4 _aThe punisher's brain :
_bthe evolution of judge and jury /
_cMorris B. Hoffman.
300 _axi, 359 pages ;
490 0 _aCambridge studies in economics, cognition, and society
520 _a"Evolution built us to punish cheaters. Without that punishment instinct, we would never have been able to live in small groups, and would never have realized all the significant benefits that small-group living conferred, including mutual defense, cooperative hunting, property, divisions of labor and economies of scale. In fact, to a large extent our notions of right and wrong, of empathy and compassion, of fairness and justice, all come from the tensions of group living, and thus indirectly owe their very existence to punishment. It may sound strange that one key to civilization is our willingness to punish each other, but every parent knows it's true. Every parent also feels the irresistible pull not to punish too much, and in fact maybe not to punish at all - to forgive - and this, too, is a remnant of evolution. Our punishment instinct is not so much a sword ready to fall as it is a finely tuned balance, sometimes susceptible to the gentlest of breezes"--
650 0 _aPunishment
_xSocial aspects.
_9806
650 0 _aHuman evolution.
_9807
650 0 _aSocial evolution.
_9808
650 7 _aLAW / General.
_9809
942 _cBK
999 _c141229
_d141229