Reviews

From Darwin to Derrida: Selfish Genes, Social Selves, and the Meanings of Life by David Haig

alexander0's review against another edition

3.0

I think this book, while not as catchy, SHOULD have been titled "From Darwin to Bateson: Selfish Genes, Embodied Selves, and Life's Information." While this book promises to reach the humanities, and points to Derrida (and does on occasion directly) this book doesn't directly fulfill its promises. This doesn't bridge evolutionary biological theory with Continental humanities of culture so much as it reaches the intermediary of "Information Studies" as a means to discuss culture and the meaning we give cultural information. Certainly there are all sorts of connections possible and hinted at, but there's not a direct line "from Darwin to Derrida" so to speak.

This is a direct line "from Darwin to Bateson." That is, this book facilitates a connection between evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary biology with a better idea of what "information" is about than the usual token gestures that evolutionary theorists have (problematically) given to cybernetics. This book does a great job of developing a concept of information that is fair and useful to a broader group of evolutionary researchers! I am supportive of this work interpreted as an "information" approach to evolutionary theory. Also I'm supportive of the liberties that Haig explicitly took in reinterpreting Richard Dawkins' work. He makes clear that Dawkins was mistaken about what his theory should have been. Haig reorganizes Dawkins into the distinction of a mind/body dichotomy in evolution that need not have been. Instead Haig opts for an evolutionary ontology reframed as an "information/material" concern. As such, he casts aside Dawkins' mistakes and moves evolutionary theory forward in such a way that better alignes with more recent concerns in historically anthropological cultural studies.

All in all, I'm very impressed! I just think Haig promises to connect more theory than he offers. Derrida is not well outlined or used here except as a curiosity to the author. It certainly is not owed space in the title.

mwaskom's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

0.5

okay. i read it for a class and i enjoyed the class enough but I don't think anyone else really needs to read this. 

a_davis's review against another edition

lol I was reading this for a class and proceeded to not get into the class… maybe I’ll pick this back up in the summer when I have more time, seems interesting but very dense