Because the literature on the biological bases of human conflict deals nearly as much with extrascientific issues as with the purely scientific issues reviewed previously in these pages, the present review directly examines the former to illustrate the social and political context within which the scientific controversy must be understood. The discussion centers on three principal themes: (a) the distinction and often divergence between scientific knowledge and its public uses; (b) the highly selective and often partisan uses to which particular kinds of scientific knowledge about human behavior can be put; and (c) the necessity for scientists to understand the ways in which, and the reasons for which, scientific knowledge can be used in the public arena. It is concluded that safeguards must be instituted to minimize abuses of the biological approaches, and that future research on human aggression should continue to focus predominantly on structural-environmental causes.
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