The recent sociobiology debate has raised fundamental and previously unresolved conceptual problems. Evolutionary Instability - Logical and Material Aspects of a Unified Theory of Biosocial Evolution - offers approaches for their solution. The scientific applications comprise the dynamics and evolutionary instability of hierarchically organized systems, especially systems of interacting behavioural phenotypes in animals and man. The technical apparatus is thoroughly explained in intuitive terms within the text, and illustrated by numerous familiar examples and graphical representations, supplemented by an informal summary and discussion. The analyses offer new theoretical perspectives to such diverse fields as philosophy of science, evolutionary biology, general system theory and sociology.
Die hier dargelegte Theorie läßt sich bei der Untersuchung vieler komplexer Systeme hilfreich anwenden. Über die biologisch-evolutionären Fragestellungen hinaus ist sie auch auf andere Fragestellungen der Biosoziologie und der Philosophie übertragbar.

I Introduction

One Structure and Evolution of Hierarchical Systems
II On Emergent Structures, Truisms and Fallacies
III The Concept of Unified Theory
Appendix: Examples
Two The Evolution of Social Structure
IV Perspectives on Non-Adaptive Evolution
V Structural Instability in Evolutionary Population Biology
VI Applications to Human Social Structure
VII Concluding Remarks
References
List of Symbols.