Contents

pp v-vi

List of Illustrations

pp vii-viii

Acknowledgements

pp ix-x

I - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS – BACKGROUND, MOTIVATIONS AND AIMS

pp 1-14

II - SUGGESTED QUESTIONS

pp 15-16

1 - What Explains That Some Kinds of Knowledge Are Widely Accepted Whereas Other Kinds of Knowledge Are Rejected?

pp 17-28

2 - Why Do Some Societal Processes and Phenomena Develop in a Circular or Repetitive Way Whereas Other Processes Evolve along a Cumulative Trajectory?

pp 29-42

3 - Why Do Social Norms Change, Despite the Fact That Their Mission Is to Be Sustained? What Role Do Non-Conformist Individuals and Minority Groups Play in Cultural, Cognitive and Normative Change?

pp 43-54

4 - Does a Gradual Extension of Our Lifespan (and the Rise of Welfare) Imply a Growing or Declining Ability to Postpone the Satisfaction of Our Needs and Desires?

pp 55-66

5 - What Explains the Widespread Diffusion of Inequality and the Gradual Emergence of Egalitarianism Over the Centuries?

pp 67-78

6 - Why Do People Appropriate Aesthetic Experience (Both as Producers and Consumers of Cultural Manifestations), and What Are the Individual and Societal Functions of Such Experiences?

pp 79-88

III - WHAT LIES AHEAD?

pp 89-98

APPENDICES

pp 99-100

A - Five Thematic Clusters Summarising a Workshop on Big Questions

pp 101-102

B - Translated Highlights from an Article on the Big Research Questions

pp 103-112

Notes

pp 113-130

References

pp 131-142

Index

pp 143-150