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Vaulting Ambition: Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature by Philip Kitcher (Paperback, 1987)

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Vaulting Ambition is the first extensive and detailed evaluation of the controversial claims that sociobiologists have made about human nature and human social behavior. It raises the sociobiology debate to a new level, moving beyond arguments about the politics of the various parties involved, the degree to which sociobiology assumes genetic determinism, or the falsifiability of the general theory. Sociobiology has made a great deal of noise in the popular intellectual culture. Vaulting Ambition cuts through the charges and counter-charges to take a hard look at the claims and analyses offered by the sociobiologists. It examines what the claims mean, how they relate to standard evolutionary theory, how the biological models are supposed to work, and what is wrong with the headline-grabbing proclamations of human sociobiology. In particular, it refutes the notions that humans are trapped by their evolutionary biology and history in endlessly repeating patterns of aggression, xenophobia, and deceitfulness, or that the inequities of sex, race, and class are genetically based or culturally determined. And it takes up issues of human altruism, freedom, and ethics as well.Kitcher weighs the evidence for sociobiology, for human sociobiology, and for the pop sociobiological view of human nature that has engendered the controversy. He concludes that in the field of nonhuman animal studies, rigorous and methodologically sound work about the social lives of insects, birds, and mammals has been done. But in applying the theories to human beings-where even more exacting standards of evidence are called for because of the potential social disaster inherent in adopting a working hypothesis as a basis for public policy - many of the same scientists become wildly speculative, building grand conclusions from what Kitcher shows to be shoddy analysis and flimsy argument. While it may be possible to develop a genuine science of human behavior based on evolutionary biology, genetics, cognition, and culture, Kitcher points out that the sociobiology that has been loudly advertised in the popular and intellectual press is not it. Pop sociobiology has in fact been felled by its overambitious and overreaching creators.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
MIT Press Ltd
ISBN-13
9780262610490
eBay Product ID (ePID)
96445434

Product Key Features

Author
Philip Kitcher
Publication Name
Vaulting Ambition: Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Subject
Science
Publication Year
1987
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
470 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height
229mm
Item Width
152mm
Item Weight
726g

Additional Product Features

Title_Author
Philip Kitcher
Series Title
MIT Press
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

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Vaulting Ambition: Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature by Philip Kitcher (Paperback, 1987)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

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Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Textbooks

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5-TR by American Psychiatric Association (2022, Trade Paperback)

Leadership : Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse (2021, Trade Paperback, Revised edition)

Self Heal by Design : The Role of Micro-organisms for Health by Barbara O'Neill (2018, Trade Paperback)

Research Design : Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches by J. David Creswell and John W. Creswell (2022, Trade Paperback)

Cognitive Behavior Therapy : Basics and Beyond by Judith S. Beck (2020, Hardcover)

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders : DSM-5-TR by American Psychiatric Association (2022, Hardcover)

Encyclopedia of Counseling : Master Review and Tutorial for the National Counselor Examination, State Counseling Exams, and the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination by Howard Rosenthal (2017, Trade Paperback, Revised edition,New Edition)

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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5-TR Brand new

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