The Sociobiology Controversy

Abstract

The debate about Wilson's Sociobiology continues the long-standing argument among natural scientists and social scientists over the role of “biology” in human affairs. In dealing with the animal world, Wilson's book is both thoughtful and exciting, and its treatment of humans does help open some interesting perspectives. But, despite its “objective” tone, the book's application of sociobiological approaches to human societies inevitably is heavily colored by the author's own political and social biases, and is open to criticism along these lines. Given the baleful history of misuse of biology in justifying or designing social policies and practices, authors who attempt to consider human sociobiology have special responsibilities that are not adequately discharged by the usual academic caveats. Furthermore, if, as Wilson seems to hope, sociobiology is to prove useful for the future development of society, we will have to confront the fact that science is not really a “neutral” activity; its orientations and applications are very strongly conditioned by the prevailing political and economic system. In the long run, the problems arising from this fact may be dealt with appropriately only by the substantial democratization of effective access to scientific information and the creation of altered, broader-based social mechanisms governing the application of science to society.