Foragers, farmers, and fossil fuels : how human values evolve

395 Pages·2015·19.09 MB·English

by  Atwood, Margaret, Korsgaard, Christine Marion, Macedo, Stephen, Morris, Ian, Seaford, Richard, Spence, Jonathan D

FORAGERS,
FARMERS,
AND
FOSSIL
FUELS
The University Center for Human Values Series
CHARLES R. BEITZ, EDITOR
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Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels: How Human Values Evolve
by Ian Morris
FORAGERS,
FARMERS,
AND
FOSSIL
FUELS
How Human Values Evolve
Ian Morris
Richard Seaford • Jonathan D. Spence
Christine M. Korsgaard • Margaret Atwood
Edited and introduced by Stephen Macedo
Princeton University Press • Princeton and Oxford
Copyright © 2015 by Ian Morris
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be sent to Permissions, Princeton University Press
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All Rights Reserved
Jacket images © Fedor A. Sidorov, © Kenshi991, © Albert Kam,
© UVAconcept. Images courtesy of Shutterstock.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morris, Ian, 1960-
Foragers, farmers, and fossil fuels : how human values evolve / Ian Morris;
[with responses by] Richard Seaford, Jonathan D. Spence,
Christine M. Korsgaard, Margaret Atwood ;
edited and introduced by Stephen Macedo.
pages cm—(The University Center for Human Values series)
Summary: “This is a successor work to Why the West Rules for Now, in which
Morris once again advances an ambitious account of how certain ‘brute material
forces’ limit and help determine the ‘culture, values, and beliefs,’ including
the moral codes, that humans have adopted over the last 20,000 years. The
present volume originated as Ian Morris’s Tanner Lectures on Human Values,
delivered at Princeton University in November of 2012”—Introduction.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0-691–16039–9 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
1. Social values—History. 2. Social evolution—History. 3. Social change—
History. 4. Power resources—Social aspects—History. 5. Hunting and
gathering societies—History. 6. Agriculture—Social aspects—History. 7. Fossil
fuels—Social aspects—History. 8. Civilization—History. 9. Civilization—
Forecasting. I. Seaford, Richard. II. Spence, Jonathan D. III. Korsgaard, Christine
M. (Christine Marion) IV. Atwood, Margaret, 1939- V. Macedo, Stephen,
1957- VI. Morris, Ian, 1960- Why the West rules—for now. VII. Title.
GN469.M67 2015
303.4—dc23
2014044896
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Garamond Pro
Printed on acid-f ree paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
For Kathy and the animals

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

Figures and tables
Figure 1.1. Locations and groups mentioned in chapter 1 2
Figure 1.2. Th e water bearers: Kenyan women collecting
water at a stream 16
Figure 1.3. S ecular- rational values and nonagricultural
wealth 20
Figure 1.4. C omposite World Values Survey scores
and economic development 21
Figure 1.5. The World Values Survey’s “culture map” 22
Figure 2.1. L ocations and social groups mentioned
in chapter 2 27
Figure 3.1. The farming three- pointed star 46
Figure 3.2. L ocations and social groups mentioned
in chapter 3 48
Figure 3.3. Peak energy 52
Figure 3.4. Th e exponential growth of European population
between 8000 BC and 2000 BC 55
Figure 3.5. The measure of inequality 58
Figure 3.6. Agraria 66
Figure 3.7. The Greek miracle 69
Figure 4.1. The energy explosion 95
Figure 4.2. L ocations and social groups mentioned
in chapter 4 97
Figure 4.3. The Kuznets Curve 101
Figure 4.4. Global birthrates 104
Figure 4.5. Engines of liberation 105
Figure 4.6. Women in the workplace 106
Figure 4.7. Industria 107
Figure 4.8. Free at last 113
Figure 4.9. Foragers, farmers, and fossil fuels 115
Figure 4.10. The great convergence follows the great divergence 116
Figure 4.11. The end of history? 122