Re: Civilized behavior (Davidson & Gintis)

[Jim Devine <JNDF%LMUACAD.BITNET@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Herb G writes:
"... I don't mean a sociological explanation.
I mean a biological/economic explanation. Biological because human
beings are a species 'wired' to have cerain forms of
altruistic/vengeful behavior. Economic because unless the proper
incentives are present, such behavior is not elicited. Honesty, in
short, is both biological and economic, I suspect."

Herb, is there some reason why you exclude sociology?  Yes, I
know that sociology is often vague, jargon-ridden, inconclusive,
or worse.  (OOPS did I sneak in a description of econ.? :-) ) But
sociology is dealing with a more difficult subject than biology
or economics!

More importantly, our biological nature as human beings
involves a necessary cultural and sociological layer. (As one
of my favorite dead white European males said, people are
political and social animals.)  Many experts on evolution
(e.g., S.J. Gould) have argued that *cultural, social, and
technical* evolution has replaced biological/genetic evolu-
tion for human beings.

sincerely,

Jim Devine
jndf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx or jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles, CA 90045-2699 USA
310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950