Perspective

The perspective of The Red Queen is akin to an interested and intelligent layman who wants to understand and explain how important developments in evolutionary theory relate to common human practices. The author advocates a thesis called the Red Queen thesis in sexual selection as a method for understanding human nature. He presents opposing viewpoints but it is clear that the author is a partisan of the Red Queen. The author also clearly favors using the evolutionary method broadly in the social sciences.

Although he believes that nature and nurture work together, it is clear that he believes social science has, over the last 100 years, unnecessarily and unjustly favored explanation that is based on nurture and culture over ones based on nature and evolution. Part of the book presents a case for changing that approach. The author does a good job of making his case for nature over...