Re: ev psych unfairly Accused, Unjustly
Condemned?
Joe Schwartz wrote:
:
The
Biological
Basis of Coercion, MIT Press 2000. This argument naturalises
male violence against women. Presumably Michael Weissman, judging from
his
remark about
possible genetic differences in human male and female sexual
behaviour, might find this thesis congenial. I don't
know.
Actually, Joe, strange as it may sound, I'm opposed to
rape.
On a less ridiculous note, Stuart Newman wrote, concerning some
ethnographic study by Gintis:
I agree with Michael Weissman that this study appears to
be a legitimate
scientific exploration of economic behavior and cultural
variation. Can
he explain what this has to do with evolutionary
psychology or
behavioral genetics?
Not a whole lot. What I think after a very quick skim of what
looks like an interesting paper is that it sets some limits on what
any theory of economic behavior ought to treat as universal. In other
words, it does just what the chorus on this list insists that ev psych
types never do- make a serious study of how much cultural flexibility
there is in widespread behaviors, paying particular attention to what
types of economies lead to what character traits. What it does not do
is make a prior commitment to what the outcome has to be, ruling out
evolved general traits ahead of time.
--
Michael Weissman,
Physics, UIUC MC-704, 1110 W. Green St., Urbana, IL
61801-3080 (USA)
Phone: (217) 333-7897; FAX: (217) 333-9819
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