''Human Universals'' is a book by Donald Brown, an American professor of

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

(

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

) who worked at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

. It was published by

McGraw Hill McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

in 1991. Brown says human universals, "comprise those features of culture, society, language, behavior, and psyche for which there are no known exception." According to Brown, there are many universals common to all human societies. On the book's second edition, Brown expressed regret at not specifically criticizing Michel Foucalt's denial of the existence of universals, thereby making his research argument and evidence more easily found.

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychology, cognitive psychologist, psycholinguistics, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psycholo ...

lists all Brown's universals in the appendix of his book '' The Blank Slate''.Pinker, Steven 2002. '' The Blank Slate: the modern denial of human nature''. New York: Viking. Appendix: Donald E. Brown's list of human universals. The list includes several hundred universals, and notes Brown's later article on human universals in ''The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences'' The list is seen by Brown (and Pinker) to be evidence of mental

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

s to communal life in our species' evolutionary history.^p53 The issues raised by Brown's list are essentially

darwinian ''Darwinism'' is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sele ...

. They occur in Darwin's '' Descent of Man'' (1871) and ''

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals ''The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals'' is Charles Darwin's third major work of evolutionary theory, following ''On the Origin of Species'' (1859) and '' The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex'' (1871). Initially in ...

'' (1872), and in Huxley's '' Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature'' (1863). The list gives little emphasis to the issues of

aggression Aggression is behavior aimed at opposing or attacking something or someone. Though often done with the intent to cause harm, some might channel it into creative and practical outlets. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In h ...

, physical conflict and warfare, which have an extensive literature in

ethology Ethology is a branch of zoology that studies the behavior, behaviour of non-human animals. It has its scientific roots in the work of Charles Darwin and of American and German ornithology, ornithologists of the late 19th and early 20th cen ...

.Lorenz, Konrad 1966. '' On Aggression''. London: Methuen. Brown's list does have conflict and its

mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

as items. He also makes note of the fact that human males are more prone to violence and aggression than females.

Notes

References

* George P. Murdock in Linton, ''The Science of Man in the World Crisis'' (1945), a precursor work.

External links

''Human Universals''
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991

Chapter by Brown

Introduction to Human Universals and Methods of research by Donald E. Brown

"Humans share same characteristics"
Paper, University of British Columbia Anthropology books 1991 non-fiction books Cultural anthropology Biological anthropology Sociobiology {{cultural-anthropology-stub