Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels: How Human Values Evolve

Ian Morris

Published by Princeton University Press 2015

Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels

How Human Values Evolve

Ian Morris
Edited by: Stephen Macedo
With contributions by: Stephen Macedo
Commentary: Richard Seaford , Jonathan D. Spence , Christine M. Korsgaard and Margaret Atwood

Volume 41 in the series The University Center for Human Values Series

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400865512

Overview
Contents

About this book

Most people in the world today think democracy and gender equality are good, and that violence and wealth inequality are bad. But most people who lived during the 10,000 years before the nineteenth century thought just the opposite. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, biology, and history, Ian Morris explains why. Fundamental long-term changes in values, Morris argues, are driven by the most basic force of all: energy. Humans have found three main ways to get the energy they need—from foraging, farming, and fossil fuels. Each energy source sets strict limits on what kinds of societies can succeed, and each kind of society rewards specific values. But if our fossil-fuel world favors democratic, open societies, the ongoing revolution in energy capture means that our most cherished values are very likely to turn out not to be useful any more. Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels offers a compelling new argument about the evolution of human values, one that has far-reaching implications for how we understand the past—and for what might happen next. Originating as the Tanner Lectures delivered at Princeton University, the book includes challenging responses by classicist Richard Seaford, historian of China Jonathan Spence, philosopher Christine Korsgaard, and novelist Margaret Atwood.

Author / Editor information

Ian Morris is professor of classics and a fellow of the Stanford Archaeology Center at Stanford University.

Reviews

A very good and enjoyable read.---Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist

Excellent and thought-provoking. . . . More important, by putting forth a bold, clearly formulated hypothesis, Morris has done a great service to the budding field of scientific history.---Peter Turchin, Science

"Ian Morris has thrown another curveball for social science. In this disarmingly readable book, which takes us from prehistory to the present, he offers a new theory of human culture, linking it firmly to economic fundamentals and how humans obtained their energy and resources from nature. This is bold, erudite, and provocative."—Daron Acemoglu, coauthor of How Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

A provocative explanation for the evolution and divergence of ethical values. . . . In the hands of this talented writer and thinker, [this] material becomes an engaging intellectual adventure.

"Ian Morris has emerged in recent years as one of the great big thinkers in history, archaeology, and anthropology, writing books that set people talking and thinking. I found delightful things in every chapter ofForagers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels, interesting enough that I found myself sharing them with family over dinner. The breadth of reading and the command of the subject are just dazzling. His major argument—that value systems adapt themselves to ambient energy structures, in the same way that an organism adapts to its niche—is fascinating."—Daniel Lord Smail, author of On Deep History and the Brain

I couldn't more warmly recommend. . . . [This book is] the product of a lifetime’s personal experience, mixed with a vast body of research, then distilled through the hand of a gifted wordsmith. It’s a book that will help you understand how values--and with them, the world we know today--came to be, and how they evolved through time. . . . Most of all, Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels will show you that apart from a few biologically 'hardwired' ones it’s the daily churn of society, not some ultimate authority or moral compass, that dictates our values--that’s a very liberating realization.---Ian Morris, ZME Science

Stimulating.---Russell Warfield, Resurgence & Ecologist

"This is an important and stylistically excellent book written from a sophisticated materialist perspective. It is eminently readable, lively, and with clearly stated arguments explored in a systematic fashion. In a sense, it follows up on Jared Diamond's work on agricultural origins, and it parallels Steven Pinker's book on warfare in depicting a world that is culturally evolving in a certain direction. Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels should have a serious impact."—Chris Boehm, author of Moral Origins: The Evolution of Altruism, Virtue, and Shame

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Figures and Tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Introduction Stephen Macedo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
Chapter 1. Each Age Gets the Thought it Needs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 2. Foragers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Chapter 3. Farmers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
Chapter 4. Fossil Fuels Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
Chapter 5. The Evolution of Values: Biology, Culture, and the Shape of Things to Come Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
Comments
Chapter 6. On the Ideology of Imagining That “Each Age Gets the Thought It Needs” Richard Seaford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	172
Chapter 7. But What Was It Really Like? The Limitations of Measuring Historical Values Jonathan D. Spence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	180
Chapter 8. Eternal Values, Evolving Values, and the Value of the Self Christine M. Korsgaard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	184
Chapter 9. When the Lights Go Out: Human Values after the Collapse of Civilization Margaret Atwood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202
Response
Chapter 10. My Correct Views on Everything Ian Morris Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	343

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