Download SEX - Mount St. Joseph University

SEX
By: Ronald F. White, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
College of Mount St. Joseph
Introduction
• Explaining, Predicting, and Controlling Sex
– Judeo-Christian
– Western Liberal
– Social Science
• Tabula Rasa
• Behaviorism
• Teaching and Learning (guns and dolls)
– Sociobiology
From Sociobiology to
Evolutionary Psychology
• Early Pioneers
• Sociobiology
– Edward O. Wilson, Human Nature
– Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
• Evolutionary Psychology
– Tooby and Wilson, Homicide
Game Theory
• Population Dynamics
• Universality
• Evolutionarily Stable Strategies (ESS)
– Unconditional Strategies
• Doves
• Hawks
– Conditional Strategies
• Bullies
• Retaliators
Evolutionary Psychology
• Underlying Assumptions
– Natural Selection and Sexual Selection
– Mind is produced by the brain
– The human brain has been profoundly shaped by social relationships.
Esp. sex (male and female preferences)
– The brain has adapted to reproductive problems that human beings
faced in the Pleistocene era.
– The “Modular Theory of the Brain.”
• The brain as a “Swiss Army Knife”
– Sexual Dimorphism: The brains and bodies of males and females
evolved under different environmental conditions
• Mothers and Gatherers
• Warriors and Hunters
– Time Lags: Because cultural evolution takes place at a much faster
pace, the human brain may be maladapted to deal with our current
environment (political, social, technological, biological).
Issues
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Comparative mating: Animals v. Humans
Cultural Influence
Variability of male and female bodies and behavior (male-female continuum)
Self Interest and Cooperation: altruism, kin altruism, reciprocal altruism
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How do two different kinds of human brains cooperate long enough to produce offspring?
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Bearing of Offspring
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Caring of Offspring
Reproductive Strategies
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Concealed Estrus
Dating Practices
Body Signals
R strategy
K strategy
Puzzles
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Marital Arrangement
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Male and Female Orgasms
Homosexuality
Menopause
Relationship Violence
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Monogamy
Polygamy
Polyandry
Serial Monogamy (7 year itch?)
Sex for fun
Sex outside of marriage
jealousy
retribution
Infanticide
Males
Females
How Malleable are Sex Roles?
• Change the Environment
– Teaching and Learning
• Change the Body
– Sex Change Operations
– Hormone Therapy