The Limits of Biological Determinism

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4522508
AutoresEleanor M Miller (0000-0002-5046-380X, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee), Carrie Yang Costello (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee), Carrie Costello (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee)
Año2001
Volumen66
Número4
Páginas592-598
Fecha de publicación2001-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0003-1224 • E-ISSN: 1939-8271
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3088924
OpenAlexW2320010505
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas27
Referencias citadas24

Udry (2000, henceforward Udry), claims to have established that sex dimorphic behavior is produced by prenatal exposure to varying levels of testosterone. He concludes that if societies depart too far from the underlying sex-dimorphism of biological predispositions, they will generate social malaise and social pressures to drift back toward closer alignment with biology (p. 454). Udry's work is part of a long scientific tradition-that of biological determinism, which seeks to anchor patterns of gendered behavior to immutable biological roots. These roots have changed over time, but the conclusion-that shared behavioral norms, and the social and economic differences between [women and men] arise from inherited, inborn distinctions (Gould 1981: 20)-remains unchanged. A brief overview of the determinist tradition in Western science is instructive. In the

Determinism · Epistemology · Sociology · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology · Race, Genetics, and Society