From: bivalve (bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com)
Date: Tue Nov 18 2003 - 19:46:05 EST
>> Also, it seems to me that most Darwinists have
>> never entirely repudiated Social Darwinism
>> (rebranded as sociobiology or evolutionary
>> psychology). They cannot in fact do so, because
>> they need Darwinism to be a biological Theory of
>> Everything.
Obviously, your definition of Darwinist will strongly affect assessing the statement. However, I would note that David Hull, in _Science as a Process_, notes that the claim that sociobiology explains all human behavior is self-defeating (because sociobiology itself is then merely an evolutionary ploy). I think Hull probably qualifies as a Darwinist. On the other hand, it's not hard to observe examples of humans acting out of evolutionary self-interest, so sociobiology does have some factual merit.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
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