Page 307 - The Social Weapon: Darwinism

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In The Descent of Man Darwin claimed that in the future, evolu-
tion would constitute the foundation of psychology, and expressed his
illusory claim in these terms:
In the distant future I see open fields for far more important researches.
Psychology will be based on a new foundation, that of the necessary ac-
quirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation. Light will
be thrown on the origin of man and his history. 181

The first comprehensive initiative to account for the origins of
human and animal behavior in evolutionary terms came from
Harvard entomologist Edward O. Wilson. Despite the complete fail-
ure of Wilson's initiative, it came to be known as "sociobiology."
In Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, published in 1975, Wilson
maintained that animal behavior had a completely biological founda-
tion. Basing his error on biological evolution, he thought that particu-
lar genes controlled human and animal behavior. His true field of
expertise was insects, which he referred to in the first 26 chapters of
his book. In the 27th chapter, he attempted to adapt these claims to

human beings. His 1978 book Human Nature speculated that human
genes were responsible for such behavior as hatred, aggression, xeno-
phobia, amicability, homosexuality and characteristic differences be-
tween men and women. None of Wilson's claims went any further