Universität Wien
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030622 VO Evolution and Biology of Human Behavior (2023W)

3.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 3 - Rechtswissenschaften
Moodle

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Details

Language: German

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

The first part of the lecture will deal with the basics of evolutionary biology, in particular with the mechanisms that have conditioned the evolution of all life and especially the evolution of man.
In this context, it is essential to emphasise that just because we and our attitudes and behaviour are also the result of biological evolution, among other things, this is not "our fate"; on the contrary, civilisation and especially law have succeeded in largely containing our "biological predispositions", such as also the tendency to violence, in modern democratic constitutional states.
Therefore, civilisation and law have also led to a "self-domestication" of man.

In the further course of the lecture, the foundations of human cooperation will be discussed, how we have come from a predominant cooperation between relatives to a strong cooperation and binding rules between non-relatives, which make our modern states with their social balance possible in the first place.

The lecture also focuses on our strong group thinking, which on the one hand has brought us great advantages, as we tend to cooperate strongly and be helpful within groups. On the other hand, this strong group cohesion also harbours the enormous danger of excluding "others" and thus endangering social cohesion. From an evolutionary-biological perspective, the answer to this can only be the democratic negotiation of compromises and a functioning constitutional state.

In addition to the evolutionary-biological foundations of human behaviour, the lecture also deals in detail with the genetic foundations of our individual attitudes and behaviour. Modern genetics clearly shows that we are not a "blank slate", but that all characteristics also have a genetic basis, which also leads to individual differences in interaction with the environment. This is documented exemplarily by the example of political attitudes and individual moral concepts, which also have a clear genetic basis.

A great deal of space is also devoted to recent findings relevant to criminal law on the genetic basis of delinquency, dissocial behaviour and violence, which also show that these behaviours have an individual genetic background, whereby it becomes clear, especially in connection with dissocial behaviour, that this does not have to be destiny, but that the conditions under which people grow up are very important in determining whether a genetic predisposition manifests itself or not. These recent data in particular show how important a balanced criminal law is.

The last part of the lecture will deal with the enormous upheavals that can be expected in the future as a result of modern genetics and which will probably also affect lawyers in their daily practice. In this context, particular attention will be paid to the Genome Wide Associations Studies and the Polygenic Score: In the medium term, it will be possible to determine a person's risk of certain diseases, for example, from their DNA data alone. How will this information be handled, e.g. in terms of insurance? In the foreseeable future, it will probably also be possible to limit the risk of recidivism, e.g. of extreme violent offenders, on the basis of DNA data - all these developments urgently require a social and legal discussion: What do we want in genetic examinations and what do we definitely not want? Our society must soon become clear about this; the lecture should also serve to prepare lawyers for these questions.

  • Thursday 12.10. 13:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal U13 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1
  • Thursday 19.10. 13:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal U13 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1
  • Thursday 09.11. 13:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal U13 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1
  • Thursday 16.11. 13:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal U13 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1
  • Thursday 23.11. 13:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal U13 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1
  • Thursday 30.11. 13:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal U13 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1
  • Thursday 07.12. 13:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal U13 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1
  • Thursday 14.12. 13:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal U13 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1
  • Thursday 11.01. 13:00 - 15:00 Hörsaal U13 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The aim of the course is to demonstrate how our behavior has evolved in the course of human evolution, which genetic and epigenetic basics our behavior has in interaction with the environment. The advances in modern biology are of particular importance to criminal law, as they show that our individual choices / emotions and responses are not independent of our evolution and genetics. Our genome is interacting with the environment and affecting our behavior.
The lecture will focus on the following topics: evolution, cooperation, environment and behavior genetics; Evolution and the emergence of antisocial behavior including violence – the interaction of environment and genetics; as well as the evolutionary and genetic bases of attitudes (for instance politics and religion).
The course also teaches basic methods of evolutionary biology, genetics and molecular biology, with a special focus on “Genome Wide Association Studies” and “Polygenic Risk Scores”, as these methods will grow on importance beyond biology.

Assessment and permitted materials

Written examination on the content of the lecture, consisting of 4 broad questions.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

4 points for each of the 4 questions (16 in total), for a positive examination more than 8 points are necessary.

Examination topics

the content of the lecture- the slides will be provided

Reading list

Eckart V. Soziobiologie: Die Evolution von Kooperation und Konkurrenz. Springer 2013 ISBN-10: 9783642345401

Knopik S.V. et al. Behavior Genetics 7th Edition. Worth 2016. ISBN-10: 1464176051

Buss D. Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind (English Edition) 6th Edition, 2019. Kindle Edition

Conley D. Fletcher J. The Genome Factor: What Social Genomics Tells Us about Ourselves, Our History, and the Future. Princeton Univers. Press (22 Feb 2017) ISBN-10: 9780691164748

Plomin, R. (2019). Blueprint: How DNA makes us who we are. Mit Press.

Beaver, K. M., Barnes, J. C., & Boutwell, B. B. (Eds.). (2014). The nurture versus biosocial debate in criminology: On the origins of criminal behavior and criminality. Sage Publications.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 16.10.2023 13:46