Abstract

Evolutionary Psychology www.epjournal.net – 2010. 8(2): 297-302 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Book Review Climbing Mount Impossible: An Important Book Written Too Early A review of Martin Brüne, Textbook of Evolutionary Psychiatry: The Origins of Psychopathology. Oxford University Press: New York, 2008, 385 pp., US$67.95, ISBN 978-0- 19-920768-8 (paperback). Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. Email: kennair@ntnu.no. Introduction Martin Brüne decided to climb Mount Impossible. He wished to write a general textbook on psychiatry, a daunting task in itself for a single author. To top this, he wanted to base it primarily on an evolutionary perspective. But there is only one current treatment with any evidence of effect founded explicitly on evolutionary theory (Paul Gilbert’s, 2009, compassion-focused therapy—not described in the book). Further, almost all of the research on specific disorders is in its infancy. The best and most original theories and approaches need more research and empirical support. I agree with Brüne that the diagnostic systems have important weaknesses, but there are no current nosologies/taxonomies based on evolutionary theory—thus the research so far on the vague and often biologically meaningless phenotypes will be of limited interest. Do not misunderstand: I am an evolutionary