Skip to main content
Log in

Why most sociologists don't (and won't) think evolutionarily

  • Published:
Sociological Forum

Abstract

The general failure of sociologists to understand, much less accept, an evolutionary perspective on human behavior transcends mere ignorance and ideological bias, although it incorporates a good deal of both. It also includes a general anthropocentric discomfort with evolutionary thinking, a self-interested resistance to self-understanding, and a trained sociological incapacity to accept the fundamental canons of scientific theory construction: reductionism, individualism, materialism, and parsimony.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andreski, Stanislav 1972 Social Sciences as Sorcery. London: Andre Deutsch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulding, Kenneth E. 1978 Ecodynamics: A New Theory of Social Evolution. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, Marvin 1979 Cultural Materialism. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitcher, Philip 1985 Vaulting Ambition, Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenski, Gerhard andJean Lenski 1987 Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. New York: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, C. Wright 1956 The Sociological Imagination. New York: Grove Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Namboodiri, Krishnan 1988 “Ecological demography: Its place in sociology.” American Sociological Review 53:619–633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossi, Alice S. 1984 “Gender and parenthood.” American Sociological Review 49:1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorokin, Pitirim A. 1956 Fads and Fables in Modern Sociology. Chicago: Regnery.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westermarck, Edward A. 1891 The History of Human Marriage. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

van den Berghe, P.L. Why most sociologists don't (and won't) think evolutionarily. Sociol Forum 5, 173–185 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01112591

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01112591

Key words

Navigation