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Machiavellian Intelligence II: Extensions and Evaluations

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Edited By: Andrew Whiten and Richard W Byrne

403 pages, Illus

Cambridge University Press

About this book

How can the intelligence of monkeys and apes, and the huge brain expansion which marked human evolution be explained? The `Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis' first explored in Machiavellian Intelligence in 1988, suggested that the evolution of intellect was primarily driven by selection for manipulative, social expertise within groups where the most challenging problem faced by individuals was dealing with their companions. Since this time, many new discoveries have been made, and this volume brings readers up to date with the most important of these.

' ... this book provides anyone concerned with welfare with abundant information and ideas on the advanced nature of primates' intelligence.' Animal Welfare 1998 'Whiten and Byrne are to be congratulated for collecting this second set of essays which are an important addition to the field of 'cognitive ethology'.' Aubrey Manning, The Times Literary Supplement 'Best of all, Mach II is in affordable paperback form the outset, and compels just as much attention as did Mach I.' W. C. McGrew, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 'If you think you might want to read this book, yes, you do! That is, if you are interested in primate cognition, in 'mindreading' ... or in the evolution of human social understanding, then Mach II is a book to seize on.' Animal Cognition

Preface; 1. Machiavellian Intelligence Richard W. Byrne and Andrew Whiten; 2. Friendships, alliances, reciprocity and repair Marina Cords; 3. Why Machiavellian Intelligence may not be Machiavellian Shirley C. Strum, Deborah Forster and Edwin Hutchins; 4. Social intelligence and success: don't be too clever in order to be smart Alain Schmitt and Karl Grammer; 5. Minding the behaviour of deception Marc Hauser; 6. The Machiavellian mindreader Andrew Whiten; 7. Exploiting the expertise of others Anne Russon; 8. Primates' knowledge of their natural habitat: as indicated in foraging Charles R. Menzel; 9. Evolution of the social brain Robert A. Barton and Robin Dunbar; 10. The modularity of social intelligence Gerd Gigerenzer; 11. The technical intelligence hypothesis: an additional evolutionary stimulus to intelligence Richard W. Byrne; 12. Protean primates: the evolution of adaptive unpredictability in competition and courtship Geoffrey Miller; 13. Egalitarian behaviour and the evolution of political intelligence Christopher Boehm; 14. Social intelligence and language: another Rubicon Esther Goody; Index.