Coming home to the Pleistocene / Paul Shepard ; edited by Florence R. Shepard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shepard, Paul, 1925-

Contributor:

Shepard, Florence R.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hunting and gathering societies.

Sociobiology.

Nature and nurture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 195 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Island Press, 1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Paul Shepard was one of the most profound and original thinkers of our time. Seminal works like The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game, Thinking Animals, and Nature and Madness introduced readers to new and provocative ideas about humanity and its relationship to the natural world. Throughout his long and distinguished career, Shepard returned repeatedly to his guiding theme, the central tenet of his thought: that our essential human nature is a product of our genetic heritage, formed through thousands of years of evolution during the Pleistocene epoch, and that the current subversion of that Pleistocene heritage lies at the heart of today's ecological and social ills. Coming Home to the Pleistocene provides the fullest explanation of that theme. The book explicitly addresses the fundamental question raised by Shepard's work: What can we do to re-create a life more in tune with our genetic roots? In this book, Shepard presents concrete suggestions for fostering the kinds of ecological settings and cultural practices that are optimal for human health and well-being.

Contents:

The relevance of the past Getting a genome How we once lived How the mind once lived Savages again Romancing the potato The cowboy alternative Wildness and wilderness The new mosaic a primal closure

Notes:

"A Shearwater book"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-186) and index.

ISBN:

1-59726-847-X

1-4175-9423-3

OCLC:

228114293