We like to think that science always illuminates. But the disturbing persistence of the concept of biological determinism -the false idea that human behaviour is genetically fixed or inherently programmed and therefore is not susceptible to rapid change -shows that scientific research and concepts can be distorted to advance an inhumane and sometimes deadly political agenda. It was biological determinism that formed the basis of the theory of eugenics, which in turn led to the forced sterilisation of ""misfits"" and the creation of Nazi death camps.In Killer Apes, Naked Apes, and Just Plain Nasty People, anthropologist Richard J. Perry delivers a scathing critique of determinism. Exploring the historical context and enduring popularity of the movement over the past century and a half, he debunks the facile and the reductionist thinking of so many popularisers of biological determinism while considering why biological explanations have resonated in ways that serve to justify deeply conservative points of view.Moving through time, from the prevalence of overt racism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to ""human nature"" arguments, from the rise of socio-biology in the 1970s to the current fixation on evolutionary psychology, the book argues that both history and cross-cultural studies amply demonstrate the human capacity for growth and self-determination. Clearly written, conversational, and rationally argued, this book promotes sound and careful research while skewering the bogus ideological assertions that have been used to justify colonialism, slavery, gender discrimination, neoliberal economic policies, and the general status quo.
Preface Introduction There's a History Here What's in a Word? 1. Don't Get Me Started Humans and ""Nature"" It Wasn't Always about Biology But Maybe They Really Are Different! It's All Uphill from Here Romantic Supremacy Philosophical Biology Biological Stories 2. Eugenics The Right Sorts of People What's to Be Done? Parasites and Pests Manipulating Biology The Gift of IQ Boas and ""Fixed Traits"" Out with Eugenics, for Now; but We Still Have IQ! 3. Killer Apes, Naked Apes, and Just Plain Nasty People Enter the Killer Ape... ... Followed by the Naked Ape... ... Followed by Nasty People It Gets Worse A Serious Flaw in the Argument I Know, but It Still Seems Real Back to Eugenics 4. Mind Games Social Programs? Not So Fast Seeing Double Wait What Were Those Scores Again? You Say Heritability, I Say InheritanceLet's Call the Whole Thing Off Let's Get That Social Ranking Straight Nothing If Not Persistent Twins, Again! Hot Air from Canada and from across the Pond Everyone Needs a Friend 5. Sociobiology ""Go to the Ant, Thou Sluggard. Consider Her Ways and Be Wise"" Edward, Have You Met Herbert? Quiet... I Think the Genes Are up to Something What's Good for the Goose Wait... Are We Still Doing Science? Pull Up a Chair; It's Story Time The Generic ""Primitive"" Americans and Brits A Genetic Guide to Behavior 6. And Yet Another New Science of the Same Old Thing It Blinded Them with Science It Takes a Village Making the Exotic Familiar, and the Familiar Genetic Waltz of the Pseudohypotheses What's with the Big Brain, Anyway? What, Indeed? 7. That's Just about Enough of That ""When Wild in the Woods the Noble Savage Ran"" Steven You Look as If You've Seen a Ghost Calm Down; It's Only an Abstraction Are You Still Here? What's the Big Deal? What's the Score So Far? Some Things We Do Know about the Pleistocene Going Off Script Battle of the Sexes? A Word about Ethnography 8. It's Not That Simple So What's the Alternative? Ah, Tradition Somehow It All Fits 9. What's the Agenda? Solutions That Cause Problems The Beat Goes On Reflections on the Mystique of Science Notes Suggestions for Further Reading Index
