The Kindness of Strangers
by Basic Books
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Original price
$35.00
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Original price
$35.00
Original price
$35.00
$35.00
-
$35.00
Current price
$35.00
Description
"A fine achievement."--Peter Singer, author of The Life You Can Save and The Most Good You Can Do
A sweeping psychological history of human goodness -- from the foundations of evolution to the modern political and social challenges humanity is now facing.
How did humans, a species of self-centered apes, come to care about others? Since Darwin, scientists have tried to answer this question using evolutionary theory. In The Kindness of Strangers, psychologist Michael E. McCullough shows why they have failed and offers a new explanation instead. From the moment nomadic humans first settled down until the aftermath of the Second World War, our species has confronted repeated crises that we could only survive by changing our behavior. As McCullough argues, these choices weren't enabled by an evolved moral sense, but with moral invention -- driven not by evolution's dictates but by reason.
Today's challenges -- climate change, mass migration, nationalism -- are some of humanity's greatest yet. In revealing how past crises shaped the foundations of human concern, The Kindness of Strangers offers clues for how we can adapt our moral thinking to survive these challenges as well.
Today's challenges -- climate change, mass migration, nationalism -- are some of humanity's greatest yet. In revealing how past crises shaped the foundations of human concern, The Kindness of Strangers offers clues for how we can adapt our moral thinking to survive these challenges as well.
PUBLISHER:
Basic Books
ISBN-10:
0465064744
ISBN-13:
9780465064748
BINDING:
Hardback
BISAC:
Science
PUBLICATION YEAR:
2020
NUMBER OF PAGES:
368
BOOK DIMENSIONS:
9.60(H) x 6.55(W) x 1.45(D)
AUDIENCE TYPE:
General / Adult
LANGUAGE:
English