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The New York Review of Books

MAY31, 1979

Letter

THE POLITICS OF SOCIOBIOLOGY

ByBertram Bruce,Edward Egelman, Freda Salzman,Hiro!i Inouye,"on

Bec#wit!,"oe$! %l$er,Lila Lei&owitz,'ic!ard C( Lewontin, 'o&ert Lange,

'o&in Crom$ton,'ut! Hu&&ard, Ste$!en "ay Gould, )al *ue#, 'e$ly &y

Stuart Ham$!ire

In response to The Illusion of Socioiolo!" #$ctoer 1%, 197&'

To the Editors(

)e were ple*se+ to re*+ Stu*rt *-pshire.s review of On Human Nature#NYR,

$ctoer 1%' in which he shows the cruci*l philosophic*l fl*ws which un+er-ine the

entire structure of hu-*n socioiolo!"/ owever, in restrictin! hi-self purel" to the

philosophic*l prole-s inherent in On Human Nature, *-pshire ne!lecte+ the

soci*l *n+ politic*l issues which *re *t the he*rt of the socioiolo!" controvers"/

Three "e*rs *!o -*n" of us wrote * letter #NYR, Nove-er 13, 1970' in response to

* review of /$/ )ilson.s e*rlier ook, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, in whichwe pointe+ out the politic*l content of this new fiel+/ )e e2presse+ concern *t the

likelihoo+ th*t pseu+oscientific i+e*s woul+ e use+ once -ore in the pulic *ren*

to 4ustif" soci*l polic"/ The events of the intervenin! "e*rs h*ve full" 4ustifie+ our

initi*l fe*rs/

Nu-erous *rticles in the popul*r -e+i* h*ve use+ socioiolo!ic*l theories to 4ustif"

thestatus quo/ In *n *rticle entitle+, 5A 6enetic efense of the 8ree M*rket,5

Business Wee#April 1, 197&' st*te+( 5Bioecono-ics s*"s th*t !overn-ent

pro!r*-s th*t force in+ivi+u*ls to e less co-petitive *n+ selfish th*n the" *re

!enetic*ll" pro!r*--e+ to e *re preor+*ine+ to f*il/5Newswee*n+ Timeh*veoth run *rticles on socioiolo!" which co--ent upon the inevit*ilit" of -*le

+o-in*nce/ :onsi+erin! the upsur!e over the p*st ten "e*rs in wo-en fi!htin! for

e;u*lit", it is no coinci+ence th*t the press h*s sei

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e2*-ple of * tr*it *ccessile to proper stu+" chosen " *-pshire is -*le

+o-in*nce/ )e +is*!ree/ Since we live in * societ" th*t is rife with se2is-, the

+efinition *n+ -e*sure-ent of -*le +o-in*nce, " necessit", +epen+s upon the

outlook of the oserver/ In its entire tre*t-ent of se2 roles *n+ se2u*l selection, On

Human Naturereve*ls the se2is- of our culture/ 8or e2*-ple, )ilson c*su*ll", *n+

without sust*nti*tion, -*kes such st*te-ents *s( 5In !ener*l, !irls *re pre+ispose+to e -ore inti-*tel" soci*le *n+ less ph"sic*ll" ventureso-e/5

Bec*use hu-*n eh*vior such *s -*le +o-in*nce is inti-*tel" connecte+ with

politic*l concerns, socioiolo!" h*s een *le to *chieve * pulic pro-inence tot*ll"

inco--ensur*te with its intellectu*l worth/ It is precisel" *s * result of this link to

politic*l ;uestions th*t * purel" philosophic*l criti;ue, even one which *-pl" reve*ls

the e-ptiness *n+ illusion of * hu-*n socioiolo!", +oes not un+er-ine the

*ccept*nce of this new +iscipline/

Th*t On Human Natureis politic*l, th*t it cont*ins prescriptive *n+ proscriptive

conclusions for soci*l polic", is *pp*rent/ )ilson st*tes without *n" scientificevi+ence( 5ven with i+entic*l e+uc*tion for -en *n+ wo-en *n+ e;u*l *ccess to *ll

professions, -en *re likel" to -*int*in +isproportion*te represent*tion in politic*l

life, usiness, *n+ science5 #p/ 133'/ e !oes on to s*" th*t societ" coul+ co-pens*te

for this inn*te ine;u*lit", ut *t * price( 5=the *-ount of re!ul*tion re;uire+ woul+

cert*inl" pl*ce so-e person*l free+o-s in 4eop*r+", *n+ *t le*st * few in+ivi+u*ls

woul+ not e *llowe+ to re*ch their full potenti*l/5 There is no evi+ence th*t e;u*lit"

ent*ils such costs/ An+ on * ro*+er politic*l front, )ilson *lso is confi+ent, without

evi+ence, in +ecl*rin! th*t cert*in soci*l or!*ni

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politic*l conflicts th*t surroun+ the soci*l institutions it tries to le!iti-*te *n+

+efen+/

?oseph Alper, professor of che-istr", >niversit" of M*ss*chusetts, Boston@ ?on*th*n

Beckwith, professor of -icroiolo!" *n+ -olecul*r !enetics, *rv*r+ Me+ic*l

School@ Bertr*- Bruce, scientist, *rtifici*l intelli!ence, Bolt, Ber*nek, *n+ New-*n,Inc/@ Roin :ro-pton, !r*+u*te stu+ent, io*nthropolo!", *rv*r+ >niversit"@ *l

usek, professor of philosoph", >niversit" of New *-pshire@ +w*r+ !el-*n,

!r*+u*te stu+ent, ioph"sics, Br*n+eis >niversit"@ Stephen ?*" 6oul+, professor in

the Museu- of :o-p*r*tive oolo!", *rv*r+ >niversit"@ Ruth u*r+, professor

of iolo!", *rv*r+ >niversit"@ iroshi Inou"e, rese*rch fellow, *rv*r+ Me+ic*l

School@ Roert C*n!e, professor of ph"sics, Br*n+eis >niversit"@ Cil* Ceiowit