On Our Minds: How Evolutionary Psychology Is Reshaping the Nature versus Nurture Debate

306 Pages·2003·0.9 MB·English

by  Eric M. Gander

On Our Minds

On Our Minds
v
How
Evolutionary Psychology
Is Reshaping the
Nature-versus-Nurture
Debate
V
ERIC M. GANDER
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore & London
∫ 2003 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2003
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218–4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gander, Eric.
On our minds: how evolutionary psychology is reshaping the
nature-versus-nurture debate / Eric M. Gander.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0–8018–7387–8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Genetic psychology. I. Title.
bf701 .g26 2003
155.7—dc21
2002152158
A catalog record for this book is available
from the British Library.
The desire to dedicate the fruits of our
labors to those we most love and respect
is surely a basic aspect of human nature.
v
This book is dedicated to my wife,
Lauralee

Descended from the apes! My dear, let us hope
that it is not true, but if it is, let us pray that it
will not become generally known.
—Attributed to the wife of the Bishop of Worcester,
after the publication of The Origin of Species (1859)
‘‘The greatest magician (Novalis has memorably
written) would be the one who would cast over
himself a spell so complete that he would take
his own phantasmagorias as autonomous ap-
pearances. Would not this be our case?’’ I con-
jecture that this is so.
—Jorge Luis Borges, ‘‘Avatars of the Tortoise,’’ 1952

CONTENTS
introduction
‘‘This Changes Everything’’ 1
Part One: The Evolution of a Controversy
chapter one
Stephen Jay Gould Historicizes Science 19
chapter two
Richard Herrnstein Stirs Up Controversy
at Harvard Yard 31
chapter three
Edward O. Wilson Brings More Controversy
to the Yard 56
chapter four
Richard Lewontin and His Colleagues Demur 76
Part Two: The Blind Watchmaker Meets
the Scatterbrained Computer Programmer
chapter five
Nature’s ‘‘Very Special Way’’ 97