The Evolution of Human Wisdom is an informed engagement with one of the great questions of our time—a question I doubt will ever be answered, in part because we don’t know how to ask it. The contributors, fortunately, seem to recognize this and, for the most part, maintain a consistently open, exploratory, tentative, and even humble tone. The invitation to the conversation is wide open.

Reading Religion

By far the greatest strength of the book lies in the interdisciplinary nature of the essays. Although discussions of wisdom are quite common in theological and philosophical contexts, it is far more difficult to find sustained discussions of the topic from fields of study like biology and anthropology. . . the mere fact thatThe Evolution of Human Wisdom succeeds in generating a robust conversation about an important aspect of human experience across these kinds of disciplinary boundaries makes it worth reading. Additionally, the clear differences that arise between the various essays helpfully highlight some of the key challenges in the discussion, particularly those that have to do with the extent to which ‘wisdom’ can be found among non-human (or pre-human) creatures.

Science and Christian Belief

Seldom are books on wisdom as wise or cogently argued as Celia Deane-Drummond and Augustin Fuentes’ splendid new collected volume. Their interdisciplinary inquiry will be an invaluable resource for scholar and student alike interested in the evolutionary origins of human wisdom, both secular and sacred.

William O'Neill, Santa Clara University

Homo sapiens may have evolved, but what about human sapientia or wisdom? Can we explain how it emerged from biological evolution? The Evolution of Human Wisdom takes up this challenge. Contributors agree that wisdom requires intelligence and language. They all insist, however, that wisdom is much more than cleverness. It is something deeply human, coming into existence and making possible the complex totality of our creative interactions with nature, technology, and society. Wisdom arises within our evolution and affects its course, both in the shrouded past and the uncharted future. The Evolution of Human Wisdom is intelligent, informed, creative . . . in a word, wise.

Ron Cole-Turner, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary