Baboon metaphysics : the evolution of a social mind / Dorothy L. Cheney and Robert M. Seyfarth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cheney, Dorothy L.

Contributor:

Seyfarth, Robert M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baboons--Behavior.

Baboons.

Social behavior in animals.

Cognition in animals.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (359 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 1838 Charles Darwin jotted in a notebook, "He who understands baboon would do more towards metaphysics than Locke." Baboon Metaphysics is Dorothy L. Cheney and Robert M. Seyfarth's fascinating response to Darwin's challenge. Cheney and Seyfarth set up camp in Botswana's Okavango Delta, where they could intimately observe baboons and their social world. Baboons live in groups of up to 150, including a handful of males and eight or nine matrilineal families of females. Such numbers force baboons to form a complicated mix of short-term bonds for

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. The Evolution of Mind

2. The Primate Mind in Myth and Legend

3. Habitat, Infanticide, and Predation

4. Males: Competition, Infanticide, and Friendship

5. Females: Kinship, Rank, Competition, and Cooperation

6. Social Knowledge

7. The Social Intelligence Hypothesis

8. Theory of Mind

9. Self-Awareness and Consciousness

10. Communication

11. Precursors to Language

12. Baboon Metaphysics

Appendix

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 294-328) and index.

ISBN:

9786612775673

9781282775671

1282775677

9780226102429

0226102424

OCLC:

664565815