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May We Take Sociobiology Seriously? Neutralizing Some Objections
Tomislav BRACANOVIĆ
Sažetak
From its very beginnings sociobiology has been a target of both
ideological and methodological objections. After an introductory
discussion and rebuttal of criticism which aims at the alleged
ideological and political vice of sociobiology, three standard
methodological objections (anthropomorphism, genetic
determinism and adaptationism) are singled out and revealed
as undamaging for the scientific standing of sociobiology. The
anthropomorphism objection fails because it insists upon a
utopian and counterproductive linguistic purism in science, the
genetic determinism objection fails because it fails to recognize
that the plausibility of sociobiological explanations does not
depend upon the idea of rigid genetic determination of
behavior, while the adaptationism objection fails because
adaptationist thinking is indispensable heuristics of every
evolutionarily oriented investigation. In conclusion it is argued
that sociobiology is not a new scientific paradigm, but rather a
logical extension of the original Darwinian research program,
and may be taken seriously just as much as any other branch of
evolutionary biology.
Ključne riječi
sociobiology; theory of evolution; anthropomorphism; genetic determinism; adaptationism
Hrčak ID:
18281
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.6.2006.
Posjeta: 1.968 *