SOC275H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Reductionism, Social Inequality, Natural Selection
Document Summary
Biology produces differences genetic differences lead to hormonal differences which lead to behavior differences which lead to social inequality. That male are more aggressive because they have more testosteroine which then creates male dominance. This argument is a reductionist, it reduces people to their physical elements. it fails to recognize that people are products of culture. What makes us human is that we grow up in a human community. We cannot be human if we do not have human interaction and connect with other human beings: the idea that behavior shapes social organization. That is more than individuals that just make it up. If you remove testosteroine, you then check aggression levels. Its only the interaction between the two: social factors trigger violence, bodies develop in society. If biology , it is politics and not science. Evolutionary psychology: natural selection for reproductive success, but assumes a genetic basis for behaviour, and tells story which validates/explains known behaviours.