The chief point here is that the primate roots of human behavior
have led men (read males) to become political animals, and that
social behaviors involving dominance and attention-getting found
among various ape species manifest themselves in human terms as
imperial, non-democratic power politics. In ape society, males
achieve power as the dominant breeders but in human society the
agricultural and industrial revolutions have altered this primal
tendency through the introduction of economic class strata.
Following this politico-economic theory, Tiger and Fox examine the
fundamental social bonds they feel are built into man's nature,
positing the overriding importance of mother-child and male-male
bonds over malefemale or female-female, a familiar premise based on
man's millions of years of accrued experience as a group hunter.
Later chapters survey the special role of education and discuss the
cultural equivalents of primate grooming, e.g., gossip, sports,
various medical practices. This book is an effective ethological
commentary on the development of human behavioral patterns, argued
with restraint though at times the language is awkward. (Kirkus
Reviews)
The Imperial Animal offers a compelling perspective on the
controversy over humans and their biology. This now-classic study
is about the social bonds that hold us together and the antisocial
theories that drive us apart. The authors divulge how the
evolutionary past of the species, reflected in genetic codes,
determines our present and coerces our future. This book gives us a
direct and intimate look at how we see ourselves. It offers insight
into our politics, our ways of learning and teaching, reproducing
and producing, playing and fighting.
The authors assert that the purpose of this book is twofold: to
describe what is known about the evolution of human behavior, and
then to try to show how the consequences of this evolution affect
our behavior today. To do this they draw from numerous
disciplines--zoology, biology, history, and primatology, among
others. In the new introduction, Tiger and Fox outline then-
reasons for originally writing the book as well as the process they
used to do their research. "The Imperial Animal "is a classic work
that will continue to be of interest to sociologists, zoologists,
biologists, and primatologists.
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