The Social Meaning of Modern Biology: From Social Darwinism to Sociobiology - Softcover

Kaye, Howard L.

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9780300046151: The Social Meaning of Modern Biology: From Social Darwinism to Sociobiology

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300046154 ISBN 13: 9780300046151

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1989

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The Social Meaning of Modern Biology analyzes the cultural significance of recurring attempts since the time of Darwin to extract social and moral guidance from the teachings of modern biology. Such efforts are often dismissed as ideological defenses of the social status quo, of the sort wrongly associated with nineteenth-century social Darwinism. Howard Kaye argues they are more properly viewed as culturally radical attempts to redefine who we are by nature and thus rethink how we should live. Despite the scientific and philosophical weaknesses of arguments that "biology is destiny," and their dehumanizing potential, in recent years they have proven to be powerfully attractive. They will continue to be so in an age enthralled by genetic explanations of human experience and excited by the prospect of its biological control.

In the ten years since the original edition of The Social Meaning of Modern Biology was published, changes in both science and society have altered the terms of debate over the nature of man and human culture. Kaye's epilogue thoroughly examines these changes. He discusses the remarkable growth of ethology and sociobiology in their study of animal and human behavior and the stunning progress achieved in neuropsychology and behavioral genetics. These developments may appear to bring us closer to long-sought explanations of our physical, mental, and behavioral "machinery." Yet, as Kaye demonstrates, attempts to use such explanations to unify the natural and social sciences are mired in self-contradictory accounts of human freedom and moral choice. The Social Meaning of Modern Biology remains a significant study in the field of sociobiology and is essential reading for sociologists, biologists, behavioral geneticists, and psychologists.

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About the Author:

Howard L. Kaye is professor of sociology at Franklin and Marshall College. His writings have appeared in various publications, including Wilson Quarterly, Sociological Theory, and Theory, Culture and Society.

From Library Journal:

We human beings know that like other species we have evolved through a process of natural selection. Since Darwin scientists and philosophers have questioned how this self-knowledge affects us, utilizing the findings of biology as a moral paradigm for human behavior. Kaye demonstrates that in the interpretation of evolutionary biology cultural and ethical considerations have traditionally taken precedence over economic ones but that since the 1960s scientists have abandoned their predecessors' reluctance to explain human behavior and social organization merely in biological terms. The result, says Kaye, is that contemporary biophilosophers have gone too far in their dehumanized and reductionist view of human destiny as guided by genetic inheritance. Appropriate for most academic libraries. Robert Paustian, Wilkes Coll. Lib., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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