New Bottles for New Wine

Julian Huxley, Biology and Sociology in Britain

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3676826
AutoresChris Renwick (0000-0001-9672-6671, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen64
Número1_suppl
Páginas151-167
Fecha de publicación2016-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/2059-7932.12018
OpenAlexW4231054806
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas37

Although sociologists in Britain have debated the nature of their field's relationship with biology since the late nineteenth century, interest in the full range of responses has only grown in recent years. This paper contributes to the spirit of historical revisionism by turning to the work of the biologist and first director of UNESCO, Julian Huxley (1887-1975). Paying particular attention to the doctrine he called 'scientific humanism' and his ideas about a biosocial agenda separate from the priorities of biology itself, the paper uses historical tools to address a concern that has frequently cast a shadow over debates about biosocial science: does it interfere with the progressive agenda sociologists have traditionally seen themselves as contributing to? The paper argues that Huxley's work is evidence that biosocial science is compatible with progressive goals and that recent developments in biology mean it may be the ideal time to reconsider long-standing attitudes

Biosocial theory · Doctrine · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Field (mathematics) · Humanism · Personality · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Shadow (psychology) · Social science · Sociology · History of Science and Medicine · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Psychology · Race, Genetics, and Society