ABSTRACT
While the general field of sociobiology has a long and solid tradition of studying the social behavior of animals, in 1975 E.O.Wilson, whose area of expertise is insect behaviors, sought to establish sociobiology “as the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior.” He stated his conviction that “It may not be too much to say that sociology and the other social sciences, as well as the humanities, are the last branches of biology waiting to be included in the Modern Synthesis” (Wilson, 1975b, p. 4). Thus, Wilson and those in his school of human sociobiology believe that all human behaviors, social relationships, and organization are genetically evolved adaptations, as I will describe below. Before proceeding, however, to a critique of the work of Wilsonian sociobiologists, it is important to distinguish it from the general field of sociobiology. There are many other scientists who study the social behaviors and characteristics of animals and are therefore sociobiologists but do not make reckless extrapolations to human social relationships and behaviors. Their observations and interpretations form an important part of the evidence I use to support my arguments concerning the inadequacies and distortions inherent in the “science” that Wilson and his followers popularize.
