The Evolution of Human Wisdom

This volume addresses key questions about the puzzle of human origins by focusing on a topic that is largely unexplored thus far, namely, the evolution of human wisdom. How can we best understand the human capacity for wisdom, where did it come from, and how did it emerge? It explores lines of convergence and divergence between Christian theology and evolutionary anthropology in its search to identify different aspects of wisdom. Critical to this discussion are the philosophical difficulties that arise when two very different methodological approaches to the manner of humans becoming wise are brought together. The relative importance and significance of human language is another area of intense debate in defining the meaning of wisdom and its expression. How far and to what extent does a theologically informed wisdom discourse push evolutionary anthropology to formulate new questions and vice versa? This volume shows that there is no simple consonance between evolutionary anthropology and theology. Yet, each discipline has much to learn from the other; the authors are in agreement that even in the midst of an awareness of dissonance and some tension, there can still be mutual respect. The goal of this book is to begin to develop a trans-disciplinary approach to the evolution of human wisdom, where each discipline is challenged to ask questions in a new way. This volume tackles the relationship between theology and science in a fresh way by focusing on a specific theme—wisdom—that is equally generative for both theology and evolutionary anthropology.

Table of Contents:
Introduction by Celia Deane-Drummond and Agustín Fuentes Prologue: Philosophical Parameters Chapter 1: The Human as World-Open Spirit: An Exploration into Philosophical Anthropology and the Foundations of Human Wisdom by Dylan Belton Part I: Signs in Evolutionary Anthropology Chapter 2: What Can Anthropology Say about the Evolution of Human Wisdom? by Marc Kissel Chapter 3: In the Minds of Others by Marcus Baynes-Rock Part II: Evolving Homespun Wisdom Chapter 4: Growing Wisdom by Ben Campbell Chapter 5: Homo Sapiens Sapiens: The Human as Homemaker by Julia Feder Part III: The Wisdom of Speech Chapter 6: Speaking Truthfully: A Thomistic Perspective on the Peculiar Origins of Human Language by Stewart Clem Chapter 7: Precursors to Explanations of Action: Collective Intentionality and the Wisdom of Early Childhood by Craig Iffland Part IV: Evolving Wisdom as Virtue Chapter 8: Change and Constancy in the Nature of Wisdom over Time by Adam Willows Chapter 9: Practical Wisdom in the Making: A Theological Approach to Early Hominin Evolution in Conversation with Modern Jewish Philosophy by Celia Deane-Drummond Epilogue: Questions and Puzzles in Evolutionary Anthropology Chapter 10: Manipulating Materials, Bodies, and Signs: How the Ecology of Creative Problem Solving, Tool Manufacture, and Imaginative Sociality Set the Context for Language in the Later Pleistocene Human Niche by Agustín Fuentes

About the Author :
Celia Deane-Drummond is professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. Agustín Fuentes is professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame.

Review :
The Evolution of Human Wisdom is an informed engagement with one of the great questions of our time—a question I doubt will ever be answered, in part because we don’t know how to ask it. The contributors, fortunately, seem to recognize this and, for the most part, maintain a consistently open, exploratory, tentative, and even humble tone. The invitation to the conversation is wide open. By far the greatest strength of the book lies in the interdisciplinary nature of the essays. Although discussions of wisdom are quite common in theological and philosophical contexts, it is far more difficult to find sustained discussions of the topic from fields of study like biology and anthropology. . . the mere fact thatThe Evolution of Human Wisdom succeeds in generating a robust conversation about an important aspect of human experience across these kinds of disciplinary boundaries makes it worth reading. Additionally, the clear differences that arise between the various essays helpfully highlight some of the key challenges in the discussion, particularly those that have to do with the extent to which ‘wisdom’ can be found among non-human (or pre-human) creatures. Seldom are books on wisdom as wise or cogently argued as Celia Deane-Drummond and Augustin Fuentes’ splendid new collected volume. Their interdisciplinary inquiry will be an invaluable resource for scholar and student alike interested in the evolutionary origins of human wisdom, both secular and sacred. Homo sapiens may have evolved, but what about human sapientia or wisdom? Can we explain how it emerged from biological evolution? The Evolution of Human Wisdom takes up this challenge. Contributors agree that wisdom requires intelligence and language. They all insist, however, that wisdom is much more than cleverness. It is something deeply human, coming into existence and making possible the complex totality of our creative interactions with nature, technology, and society. Wisdom arises within our evolution and affects its course, both in the shrouded past and the uncharted future. The Evolution of Human Wisdom is intelligent, informed, creative . . . in a word, wise.