Smijemo li sociobiologiju shvatiti ozbiljno? Neutraliziranje nekih prigovora
May We Take Sociobiology Seriously? Neutralizing Some Objections

Summary/Abstract: From its very beginnings sociobiology has been a target of both ideological and methodological objections. After an introductory discussion and rebuttal of criticism which aims at the alleged ideological and political vice of sociobiology, three standard methodological objections (anthropomorphism, genetic determinism and adaptationism) are singled out and revealed as undamaging for the scientific standing of sociobiology. The anthropomorphism objection fails because it insists upon a utopian and counterproductive linguistic purism in science, the genetic determinism objection fails because it fails to recognize that the plausibility of sociobiological explanations does not depend upon the idea of rigid genetic determination of behavior, while the adaptationism objection fails because adaptationist thinking is indispensable heuristics of every evolutionarily oriented investigation. In conclusion it is argued that sociobiology is not a new scientific paradigm, but rather a logical extension of the original Darwinian research program, and may be taken seriously just as much as any other branch of evolutionary biology.

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