Sociobiology, Culture, and Human Behavior: An Analysis
Sociobiology: Nature and Culture
Wilson’s work synthesizes the study of animal societies. Controversy arose from the application of sociobiology to human sociology, specifically the study of natural or genetic factors influencing human social behavior. Critics argued that this approach failed to adequately consider the cultural dimensions of human societies. Wilson emphasizes the interplay between nature and culture, asserting that culture cannot exist without a biological foundation.
Relationships: Cultural and Natural Factors
Cultural factors are learned throughout life, while natural factors include reproductive strategies and energy investment. For example, a female invests significant energy in producing a single egg each month, whereas a male produces millions of sperm. This difference can influence mating behaviors.
Promiscuity involves multiple partners, while monogamy involves a single partner.
Schemes: Variations
- Variations: Differences between individuals within a species.
- Origin Standpoint:
- Heritable Variations: Traits present at birth (Darwin), influenced by genetics (synthetic theory).
- Environment Standpoint:
- Adaptive or Maladaptive: Affecting the chance of survival.
Sex Differences
Males often have greater physical strength, while females are dedicated to childbirth.
Essence: The fundamental nature of something.
Reason: The essence of being human.
Animal vs. Human Behavior
Ethology: Studies animal behavior in their natural environment.
Comparative Psychology: Studies animal behavior experimentally.
Tool Use
Tool Use: Modifying an object using the form or location of another object without a direct connection.
Language Differences
Language: A system of signs that allows communication between individuals.
Sign: Something used to represent something else.
The sign represents the meaning. Types: signals (natural signs) and symbols (conventional signs).
World Cultural: Cultural Anthropology
Definition of Cultural Anthropology: Culture is learned behavior, not genetically transmitted. It includes mental and material culture, building on traditions. Language facilitates cultural transmission, acquired in childhood. There are two types of social adaptation.
Biological vs. Cultural Adaptation
Biological Adaptation: Occurs through species evolution, involving genetic changes that are irreversible.
Cultural Adaptation: Broad ways of surviving in any environment, socially inherited through learning, and are reversible changes.
Subculture: A culture framed within a larger one.
Civilization: The city itself as a cultural entity.
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism: The tendency to judge other cultures from the perspective of one’s own, assuming that one’s own culture is superior. It is an effect of enculturation.
Types of Ethnocentrism
Paternalistic Ethnocentrism: Isolating indigenous people in reserves to preserve their culture.
Tax Ethnocentrism: Attempting to impose one’s own cultural content on other cultures.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural Relativism: The principle that any cultural phenomenon can only be understood and appreciated within its own context, not from an external viewpoint. It is a reaction against ethnocentrism.
Relativism Methodology
Relativism Methodology: To understand a culture, it must be studied from within.
Systematic Relativism
Systematic Relativism: Cultures are closed systems, lacking criteria for comparing values and behaviors across distinct cultures.
Cultural Diversity
Ethnocentrism and relativism can be dogmatic. Cultural practices should be compatible with human rights.