Neo-Darwinian Approaches in the Social Sciences: Unwarranted Concerns and Misconceptions

Abstract

Sociologists have been unusually reluctant to incorporate into their explanatory systems the theoretical insights of evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, and population genetics. This skepticism toward genuinely evolutionary approaches is expressed, to varying degrees, in the reactions of Freese and Maryanski to my essay on neo-Darwinian sociology. In this brief response to their comments, I suggest that these general reservations are grounded in an unnecessary fear of resurgent Social Darwinism, unwarranted concerns regarding determinism and reductionism, unjustified allegations of teleology and tautology, and/or general misconceptions of the logic and principles of neo-Darwinian theory.