Donald Symons

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Donald Symons (born June 5, 1942 ) is professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California at Santa Barbara . His research interests focused on evolutionary psychology and especially partner choice . With his book The Evolution of Human Sexuality , published in 1979 , Symons became known in professional circles worldwide.

life and work

Born in 1942, Donald Symons earned a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley , specializing in physical anthropology, primate behavior, and the evolution of human behavior.

In the early 1980s, Symons was working in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California in Santa Barbara. His research results and papers have appeared in the cognitive science journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences , in Sociobiology and Psychology , Ethology and Sociobiology, and other specialist journals.

Symons is one of the founders of evolutionary psychology and is considered a pioneer in researching human sexuality from an evolutionary perspective. He is one of the most cited researchers in contemporary sex research. His work is referenced by scientists who study an extremely diverse range of sexual phenomena. Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker describes Symons' book Evolution of Human Sexuality (1979) as a "seminal book" and "a landmark in its synthesis of evolutionary biology, anthropology, physiology, psychology, fiction and cultural analysis, written with a combination of rigor and wit It was a model for all subsequent books that apply evolution to human affairs, especially mine. "

In his 2001 book Warrior Lovers: Erotic Fiction, Evolution and Female Sexuality , which he co-authored with Catherine Salmon, Symons deals with the evolutionary analysis of slash literature .

Publications (English, selection)

  • Play and Aggression: A Study of Rhesus Monkeys. Columbia University Press, 1984, ISBN 0-231-04334-1 .
  • The Evolution of Human Sexuality . Oxford University Press, New York 1979, ISBN 0-19-502907-0 .
  • If we're all Darwinians, what's the fuss about? In: Crawford, Smith & Krebs: Sociobiology and Psychology. 1987, pp. 121-146.
  • A critique of Darwinian anthropology. In: Ethology and Sociobiology. 10, 1989, pp. 131-144.
  • Adaptiveness and adaptation. In: Ethology and Sociobiology. 11, 1990, pp. 427-444.
  • On the use and misuse of Darwinism in the study of human behavior. In: J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, J. Tooby (Eds.): The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture. Oxford University Press, New York 1992.
  • Catherine Salmon, Donald Symons: Warrior Lovers: Erotic Fiction, Evolution and Female Sexuality. Yale University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-300-09354-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Library of Congress LCCN Permalink n78071327. In: lccn.loc.gov. Retrieved September 1, 2017 (English).
  2. ^ Don Symons - Department of Anthropology - UC Santa Barbara. In: anth.ucsb.edu. August 4, 2014, accessed August 30, 2017 .
  3. ^ Précis of The evolution of human sexuality. Cambridge University Press, 1980, cambridge.org, accessed August 30, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b Ogi Ogas, Sai Gaddam: A trillion Wicked Thoughts: What The Internet Teaches Us About Sexual Relationships . Dutton Books, London 2011, pp. 20 .
personal data
SURNAME Symons, Donald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Symons, Don
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American anthropologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1942