Ulrich Frey (philosophy), Charlotte Störmer and Kai Willführ (biology) work in an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Giessen, applying evolutionary theory to a broad range of fields. The following authors contributed to the chapters of this book: Kurt Bayertz, Athanasios Chasiotis, Robin Dunbar, Harald A. Euler, Detlef Fetchenhauer, Julia Fischer, Bernulf Kanitscheider, Chris Knight, Virpi Lummaa, Amy R. Parish, Julia Pradel, Gerhard Roth, Wulf Schiefenhövel, Rebecca Sear, Volker Sommer and Gerhard Vollmer.

1 Introduction.- PART I Humans Are Exceptional.- 2 The Position of Man in the Cosmos.- 3 Living Differences.- 4 Nothing to Talk About.- PART II We Are Independent of Our Sociobiological Roots.- 5 The True Egoist Is Cooperative.- 6 The Social Brain and Its Implications.- 7 Why Most Theories Get ItWrong.- PART III The Biological Imperative Doesn't Matter to Us.- 8 Mortality Crises and Their Consequences for Human Life Histories.- 9 Costs and Consequences of Reproduction.- 10 Height and Reproductive Success.- PART IV The Past Doesn't Echo in Our Heads.- 11 Developmental Psychology Without Dualistic Illusions.- 12 The Psychology of Families.- 13 Moral Normativity Is (Naturally) Grown.- 14 The Origins of Symbolic Culture.- 15 Belief in Melanesia.- PART V We Are Free inWhat WeWant.- 16 Free Will.- 17 Could I Have Done Otherwise?- PART VI Epilogue.- 18 Modern Illusions of Humankind.

Converging evidence from disciplines including sociobiology, evolutionary psychology and human biology forces us to adopt a new idea of what it means to be a human. As cherished concepts such as free will, naïve realism, humans as creation's crowning glory fall and our moral roots in ape group dynamics become clearer, we have to take leave of many concepts that have been central to defining our humanness. What emerges is a new human, the homo novus, a human being without illusions.
Leading authors from many different fields explore these issues by addressing a range of illusions and providing evidence for the need, despite considerable reluctance, to relinquish some of our most cherished ideas about ourselves.