Book description
Today, genes are called upon to explain almost every aspect of our
lives, from social inequalities to health, sexual preference and
criminality. Based on Darwin's theory of evolution and natural
selection, Evolutionary Psychology with its claim that 'it's all in our
genes' has become the most popular scientific theory of the late 20th
century. Books such as Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene, Edward O.
Wilson's Consilience and Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct have
become bestsellers and frame the public debate on human life and
development: we can see their influence as soon as we open a Sunday
newspaper. In recent years, however, many biologists and social
scientists have begun to contest this new biological determinism and
shown that Evolutionary Psychology rests on shaky empirical evidence,
flawed premises and unexamined political presuppositions. In this
provocative and ground-breaking book, Hilary and Steven Rose have
gathered together the most eminent and outspoken critics of this
fashionable ideology, ranging from Stephen Jay Gould and Patrick Bateson
to Mary Midgley, Tim Ingold and Annette Karmiloff-Smith. What emerges is
a new perspective on human development which acknowledges the complexity
of life by placing at its centre the living organism rather than the
gene. Steven Rose is Professor of Biology and Neurobiology at the Open
University and University of London. From 1999 to 2002 he was joint
Professor of Physiology at Gresham College, London with his wife, the
sociologist Hilary Rose. She is currently Visiting Research Professor of
Sociology at the London School of Economics, Professor Emeritus of
Social Policy at the University of Bradford and Professor Emeritus of
Physick, Gresham College, London, UK.
