Biology as Ideology

About two years ago, I read Biology as Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA by Prof. Richard C. Lewontin. The book is a transcription of an excellent lecture series which Lewontin presented for a Canadian public radio station. Reading Biology as Ideology was a transformative experience for me, in that it began the process of my questioning the biological determinism of which I was proponent since my teenage years. The (scandalously inflated) claims of behavior geneticists and sociobiologists seemed legitimate prima facie, and it wasn't until I took the time to seriously read Lewontin's—and, subsequently, Stephen Jay Gould's, Jerry A. Fodor's, Marshall Sahlins's, Steven Roses's, Evelyn Fox Keller's, et al.—work that I began to realize the serious empirical shortcomings and methodological flaws inherent in those disciplines.

Fortunately, I was able to locate the aforementioned lecture series online. In these talks, Lewontin, a renowned evolutionary biologist and population geneticist, provides a thorough scientific and social critique of genetic determinism in all its forms. Despite being recorded over twenty years ago, I assure you that Lewontin's critique remains just as relevant and valid today as it was in 1990. Any comrade interested in biology will appreciate the series.

I'm actually seventy pages into The Selfish Gene, but I plan on reading more on neuroscience and morality. Thanks for the resources!

Red Aegis wrote:I'm actually seventy pages into The Selfish Gene, but I plan on reading more on neuroscience and morality. Thanks for the resources!

No problem. Biology as Ideology is basically the antithesis of Dawkins's thesis in The Selfish Gene. Dawkins's gene's-eye view of evolution is the foundation of sociobiological thought, as well as that of its descendant, evolutionary psychology. I encourage you to finish the book, but be sure to consult the work of the other scientists I mentioned in my previous post. In my opinion, sociobiology, at least in its current manifestation, is profoundly incorrect. It is up to you, however, to read both sides of this ongoing scientific debate and draw your own conclusion.

You may also be interested in Richard Lewontin's critique of Dawkins's popular memetic theory of cultural evolution, available here.