Faces: The Changing Look of Humankind

This book counteracts the commonly accepted belief that the expressionless stereotypical human faces in prehistoric and ancient art are the result of a consciously chosen style. Brener introduces evidence from psychology, evolutionary biology and other disciplines that suggest that something more significant may be involved. Scientists have emphasized the innate, genetically based nature of our fascination with the human face and its almost limitless expressive capacity, all of which is represented in the art of the last six centuries. But little attention has been paid to the anomaly of the vacuous expressions of earlier facial representations. Brener attributes this change to a change in the functioning of the human brain, as well as the role of cultural factors. It is the evolution of both genes and culture that has resulted in a marked increase in the human ability to create and interpret facial expressions. The result of this has impacted human behavior. It has increased human empathy leading to the abolition of human sacrifice, and the beginnings of courtly love in the late 11th century. More complex and subtle facial expression, and the ability to respond to it on an emotional level, has played a major role in both of these historic behavior changes. This book is of interest to scholars interested in anthropology, art history, and/or psychology, as well as evolutionary biology.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Foreward; Acknowledgements; Photograph Descriptions and Credits; Preface Chapter 2 A Concept of Space: People Without Faces Chapter 3 The "Minor Hemisphere" Chapter 4 Mute Faces: Faces Without Expression Chapter 5 The Greeks and Their Progeny Chapter 6 Faces Without Description Chapter 7 The Evolving Face: Emotion versus Feeling Chapter 8 Facial Expression and "The Ghost of Lamarck" Chapter 9 Aesthetics of the Third Dimension Chapter 10 The Language of the Face: Empathy and Human Sacrifice Chapter 11 Courtly Love and the Image of Narcissus Chapter 12 Notes; Author Index; Subject Index; About the Author

About the Author :
Milton Brener is retired and has published numerous articles and books. He lives in Jefferson, LA.

Review :
This book reveals a new understanding of the evolution of human perception of facial expressions. It documents the overwhelming evidence for a rapid rate of human behavioural evolution difficult to explain by conventional genetic theories of evolution(the neo-Darwinian view-point) and identifies some of the more recently uncovered genetic mechanisms which might account for this evolution. In this clearly written book Brener draws on diverse sources to provide new insights, fascinating and challenging ideas about the face. I found Brener's book absorbing. It reads like a good detective story with clues from neuropsychology, anthropology, art and literature. The synthesis of these clues results in a breakthrough in understanding human development in historical times. Brener attributes much of this development to evolution of the right cerebral hemisphere and his thesis may thus give us at least an intriguing glimpse into our unknowable future. Brener's monograph makes interesting and easy reading, and is of undeniable importance to Russian biologists concerning matters of cognition. It addresses many problems that are usually exploited by "narrow" specialists and builds bridges between clinical and experimental neurosciences. . . . the monograph typifies the development of clinical trends in evolutionary physiology. What this book should make the reader do it, as it did me, is reevaluate all those philosophical and sociological theses (Hegel, Marx, Spengler, Scheler, Benjamin, Adorno, Foucault) in a biological light. The future is biological, not socio-philosophical. What this book should make the reader do it, as it did me, is reevaluate all those philosophical and sociological theses (Hegel, Marx, Spengler, Scheler, Benjamin, Adorno, Foucault) in a biological light. The future is biological, not socio-philosophical. This book reveals a new understanding of the evolution of human perception of facial expressions. It documents the overwhelming evidence for a rapid rate of human behavioural evolution difficult to explain by conventional genetic theories of evolution (the neo-Darwinian view-point) and identifies some of the more recently uncovered genetic mechanisms which might account for this evolution. In this clearly written book Brener draws on diverse sources to provide new insights, fascinating and challenging ideas about the face. I found Brener's book absorbing. It reads like a good detective story with clues from neuropsychology, anthropology, art and literature. The synthesis of these clues results in a breakthrough in understanding human development in historical times. Brener attributes much of this development to evolution of the right cerebral hemisphere and his thesis may thus give us at least an intriguing glimpse into our unknowable future.