著者

森川 友義

出版者

日本政治学会

雑誌

日本政治學會年報政治學 (ISSN:05494192)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.59, no.2, pp.2_217-2_236, 2008

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  In recent years, so-called “Evolutionary Political Science” has drawn much attention from political scientists in the United States as well as in Europe. Little is known, however, about the overall framework of the approach, as it has been variously termed as “biopolitics”, “neuro-politics,” “evolutionary approach to political behavior” or “sociogenomics.” Scholars in this field share and emphasize human cognitive processes that have derived from an evolutionary perspective on human cognitive functioning and architecture. In light of the above, recent analyses on: (1) altruistic decision-making, (2) genetic influence on political behaviors, and (3) an “ultimate” approach to warfare are discussed in detail. In the process, I refer to important aspects of proximate vs. ultimate mechanism, nature vs. nurture, and general problem solver vs. “modular” architecture of the human brain -- arguments which are all closely connected with information processing mechanisms in the study of political science.