Abuses of Biology +quot;The realm of nature is so vast,+quot; writes Howard L. Kaye (Socio

Abuses of Biology

"The realm of nature is so vast," writes Howard L. Kaye (Sociology,
Franklin and Marshall College) "and Darwinian fables so easily
constructed that virtually any cause can find its mascot, any group
its biological totem." In his article, "The Uses and Abuses of
Biology" ( Wilson Quarterly , 11 (1): 80-93, 1987), Kaye discusses
the inevitable influence of personal desires and world views on
biological science. He writes:

   In spite of the claims to greater rigor and objectivity by which
   contemporary molecular biologists and sociobiologists have tried
   to distinguish their writings from those of the Spencers and
   Huxleys of the past, their efforts, too, constitute scientific
   mythologies (p. 88).

Kaye concludes:

   ...seemingly extrascientific elements may, at times, prove
   invaluable to the scientific enterprise. Yet, however much the
   triumphs of science may seem to confirm the ideas and interests
   that helped to inspire them and to encourage their extension into
   myth, they cannot grant to such social and philosophical
   speculations the status of objective, empirical science (p. 93).

   Keep that in mind the next time you read E.O. Wilson, or Fransic
Crick, or Jacques Monod (among others)--and remember to sift the
science from the philosophical speculation.