Sociobiology

Sociobiology is a field of scientific study which is based on the assumption that social behaviour has resulted from evolution. It attempts to explain and examine social behaviour in that way.

A branch of ethology and sociology, sociobiology draws from anthropology, evolution, zoology, archaeology, population genetics, and other disciplines. As a study of human societies, sociobiology is allied to Darwinian anthropology, ethology and evolutionary psychology.

Ethology investigates collective animal behaviour, such as mating patterns, territorial fights, pack hunting, and the hive society of social insects. It argues that selection pressure led to the genetic evolution of advantageous social behaviour. In other words, a typical behaviour pattern is inherited because it has raised the inclusive fitness of individuals as compared to other behaviours. This is mainstream biology.^[1][2] Its extension into human social behaviour is for ethologists absolutely normal, but for others it may be controversial.^[3]

While the term "sociobiology" can be traced to the 1940s, the concept did not get recognition until 1975 with the publication of E.O. Wilson's book, Sociobiology.^[4]

Sociobiology is based upon two fundamental premises:

• Certain behavioural traits are inherited,
  • Inherited behavioural traits have been honed by natural selection.
  • Therefore, these traits were probably adaptive in the species` original environment.
• Humans are animals
  • Therefore, their behaviours have been modified by natural selection
  • Therefore, the root of human behaviour is inherited,^[5] and our ability to change it by social means has limits. Humans are not blank slates.^[6]

It is this last point which is most controversial.

1. ↑ May, Robert M. 1976. Sociobiology: a new synthesis and an old quarrel. Nature 260, 5550, 390-392. ISSN 0028-0836
2. ↑ Alcock, John 2003. The triumph of sociobiology. Oxford University Press, p21/22. ISBN 978-0-19-514383-6
3. ↑ Alcock, John 1993. Animal behavior. 5th ed, Sinauer, p543. ISBN 0-87893-017-5
4. ↑ Wilson, Edward O. (2000). Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00089-6.
5. ↑ Alexander R.D. 1979. Darwinism and human affairs. University of Wisconsin Press, p65. ISBN 978-0-295-95901-6
6. ↑ Cite error: The named reference Pinker was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).