ABSTRACT
A new "dirty" word has recently emerged in western science. Emotional diatribes previously directed toward proponents of eugenics (and to a lesser extent toward behavioral geneticists) have a new target—sociobiology. Scholarly journals, the popular press, and the political forum all provide examples of negative reactions to the tenets and implications of sociobiology that range from skeptical to condemnatory. Biological bases for behavior are often acceptable for non-human organisms, but when sociobiological principles are extrapolated to humans, humans become wary. At stake are questions that have vexed scientists, philosophers, and humanists for centuries. Are we unique? Do we differ qualitatively from all other creatures in our intellectual capabilities? Are mind, soul, free-will, language, self-consciousness, and culture properties of our species alone? Will we soon be able to modify our environment according to rational (or irrational) precepts with the result that we can control our evolutionary trajectory as well as the rate of change along this trajectory?
