A loose **classification** of longevity theories would separate the functional theories — how senescence proceeds in the individual organism — from the teleological theories, which seek to explain why a given pattern of senescence ought to be so, usually from the evolutionary perspective. We focus here on the loose class of functional theories allied to engineering reliability theory. The link ...

The phenomenon of senescence requires both evolutionary and proximate explanations. The most widely accepted evolutionary explanation for senescence is that it never gets exposed to natural selection because environmental hazards kill all individuals before the age at which senescence causes decreased fitness. If this explanation is sufficient, wild populations should not demonstrate senescence...

Theories of lifespan evolution are a source of confusion amongst aging researchers. After a century of aging research the dispute over whether the aging process is active or passive persists and a comprehensive and universally accepted theoretical model remains elusive. Evolutionary aging theories primarily dispute whether the aging process is exclusively adapted to favor the kin or exclusively...

Rape is defined as " copulation resisted to the best of the victim's ability unless such resistance would probably result in death or serious injury to the victim or in death or injury to individuals the victim commonly protects (Thornhill and Palmer, 2000, pg. 1). " More specifically, Minnesota state law defines rape as sexual contact achieved: 1. without consent; 2. with use of physical force...

Depression is well recognized to be rooted in the down-regulation of positive affect systems. This paper reviews some of the social and non-social theories that seek to explain the potential adaptive advantages of being able to tone down positive affect, and how dysfunctions in such affect control can occur in some contexts. Common to most evolutionary theories of depression is the view that lo...

I present an inventory of theories of war causation (and on the origin of war) in preindustrial (traditional, foraging, 'primitive', hunter-gatherer, band- and tribe-level) societies, with emphasis on the roles of natural selection, sexual selection and kin selection. Also the school of sociocultural evolution is briefly discussed.

This short review portrays the evolutionary theories of aging in the light of the existing discoveries from genomic and molecular genetic studies on aging and longevity. At the outset, an historical background for the development of the evolutionary theories of aging is presented through the works of August Weismann (programmed death and the germ plasm theories) including his exceptional theore...

Several attempts have recently been made to explain moral systems and moral sentiments in light of evolutionary biological theory. It may be helpful to modify and extend this project with the help of a theory of communication developed by ethologists. The core of this approach is the idea that signals are best seen as attempts to manipulate others rather than as attempts to inform them. This ad...

Evolutionary theories of religion are essential for understanding current trends in terrorist activity. We outline recent theoretical developments that focus on four cross-culturally recurrent features of religion: communal participation in costly ritual, belief in supernatural agents and counterintuitive concepts, separation of the sacred and the profane, and adolescence as the critical life p...

There have been two distinct definitions of “plant senescence” which have developed within the literature. First, physiologists and cell biologists use the term senescence to describe the continual turnover of cells and plant parts that occurs within an individual as part of an internally controlled program of development. In cases of monocarpy (semelparity), this program can be responsible for...