ABSTRACT
Sociobiology refers to a field of study in biol ogy, a specific evolutionary theory about social behavior, or a statement about human nature. In an influential definition of sociobiology, E. O. Wilson (1975, 1978) explicitly linked these three meanings in a comprehensive theory. His theory uses notions from neo-Darwinian evolu tionary theory to explain the heredity, develop ment, physiology, and evolution of behavior and to affect public policy on controversial is sues regarding human behavior. Wilson’s defi nitional linkage is common to many sociobi ologists and evolutionary psychologists (e.g., Alexander, 1979,1987). Sociobiology as a field is the study of social behavior and social orga nization (including human society and culture) from the perspective of evolution and ecology. Many (but not all) in this field also adopt sociobiological theory, which is a theory of evo lutionary adaptation that derives from a par ticular neo-Darwinian theory, the modern synthesis. This theory is often assumed to re quire a view of human nature in which diverse social phenomena (altruism, homicide, dis crimination, sexual arrangements, etc.) are vir tually inevitable expressions of genes that were shaped by natural selection-an assumption with serious consequences for public policy (Kitcher, 1987; Lewontin, Rose Sc Kamin, 1984).
