The Expanded Self: Society as Self 297“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity- Diamond J. (1997) Guns, germs and steel, Norton, New York.
- Jablonka E, Lamb MJ. (2005) Evolution in Four Dimensions. MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA. - One of the prominent examples of culture overriding genetics is the religious
or ideological war waged among peoples of the same racial makeup. - Dawkins R. (1976) The Selfish Gene. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford; 1989
edition, pp. 10–11. - My concept of “expanded self” differs from “meme” proposed by Dawkins.
Whereas “meme” refers to human cultural artifacts such as fashions and
ideas, my “expanded self” refers to groups that comprise individual mem-
bers as in a human society. Dawkins excludes human assemblage as a type
of “meme” because, had he done this, he would have contradicted his stand
against group selection. See: Dawkins R. (1976) The Selfish Gene. Oxford
Univ. Press, Oxford; 1989 edition. - Bekoff M, Pierce J. (2009) Wild Justice. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago.
- In his writing “Of Commonwealth” in the book Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes
(1588–1679) argued that human beings would live in harmony only if the
laws of society are imposed by an awesomely powerful government — a
“leviathan” or monster, without which discord is inevitable and society will
collapse. John Locke’s (1632–1704) idea of civil government is that peo-
ple unite under a government in order to live comfortably and peacefully.
Without a government, each person is free to enjoy his life and to punish
those who harm him, but since others are equally free, there is no standard
as to who should punish whom, and society will turn into chaos. Therefore,
people are willing to sacrifice some of their freedom as long as the govern-
ment can preserve their lives, liberty and possessions better than they can
individually. See: “Of Civil Government” in The Second Treatise. See also:
Berlin I. (1956) Concepts and Categories, Aristotelian Soc. Viking/Penguin.
While Hobbes’ view is consistent with an authoritarian monarchy, Locke’s
is that of a liberal monarchy. On the other hand, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712–1778), who believed in the innate goodness of human nature and
the equality of all men, advocated liberal republicanism. His notion of so-
cial contract evolved into the ideal of a democratic society in which the
supreme power is held by the majority of members who vote for repre-
sentatives to govern them. See: Rousseau J-J. (1762) The Social Contract.