Eugenics and the Nature Nurture Debate in the Twentieth Century

Eugenics and the Nature Nurture Debate in the Twentieth Century

Previous books by Aaron Gillette: Racial Theories in Fascist Italy (London: Routledge, 2002)

Eugenics and the Nature Nurture Debate in the Twentieth Century Aaron Gillette

EUGENICS AND THE NATURE NURTURE DEBATE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Copyright Aaron Gillette, 2007. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-8422-7 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-53971-0 ISBN 978-0-230-60890-0 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230608900 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gillette, Aaron, 1964 Eugenics and the nature-nurture debate in the twentieth century / by Aaron Gillette. p. cm. 1. Eugenics. 2. Evolutionary psychology. 3. Social ethics. I. Title. HQ751.G48 2007 363.9 2 dc22 2007003715 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: November 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my mother Roxane Price

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Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Part I The Rebirth of Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology 1 Foundations for a New Synthesis 21 2 Recent Studies on Human Sexuality 27 Part II The Birth of Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology 3 The Animal Nature of Humans 41 4 Earlier Studies on Human Sexuality 61 5 Evolution, Ethics, and Culture 95 Part III The Death of Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology 6 The Rise of Environmental Behaviorism 107 7 Evolutionary Psychology under Attack 121 8 The Death of Evolutionary Psychology 135

viii CONTENTS 9 Lost in the Wilderness 157 Conclusion 163 List of Abbreviations 169 Notes 171 Bibliography 201 Index 219

Acknowledgments M y sincere thanks go to Elof Carlson, Geoffrey Miller, and Jonathan Spiro for discussions on various aspects of this work. Jeff Jackson, Brian Alnutt, David Weiden, and Michael Gelb read and offered very helpful suggestions on parts of the manuscript. The staffs of many libraries and archives played a key role in the completion of this work. Especially noteworthy is the assistance of the inter-library loan staff of George Mason University and the University of Maryland College Park. Judith May-Sapko, Special Collections Librarian/ Archivist of the Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University, cheerfully spent many hours helping me obtain documents. Above all, Shannon Cunningham and the inter-library loan staff of the University of Houston- Downtown were truly remarkable in their dedication to obtaining the materials used in this work. Patrick Kerwin of the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, Marianne Kasica of the University of Pittsburgh Archives, and Mott Lin of Clark University Archives provided help at critical moments. Holly Heighes graciously provided invaluable assistance uncovering important information in the Robert Yerkes Papers of Yale University. Funding for this project came from George Mason University Department of History and Art History and the American Heritage Center of the University of Wyoming.