Sociology and Biological Determinism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sociology and Biological Determinism - try on ExampleBefore the hormones were found in the early 1920s, scientists believed that sex differences arose from physiologically active substances - the talented wo manpower had racy level of masculine genes.If the early 20th century such assumptions were logical, today biologic determinism fails both in terms of sociology and biology. Contemporary neuroendocrinologists disagree with the key assumptions of biological determinism and point out that the idea of sex hormones is altogether misleading (Miller 2000). The characteristics the society attributed to masculinity and femininity are not reflections of biological processes. Gould noted that the critique of biological determinism is timeless and apropos at the akin time. It is timeless because biological determinism is based on deep errors. It is timely because the same argu custodyts about biological determinism arise at all times (Gould 1999).The first problem with biological deter minism as the explanation of social factors (in particular, differentiating between masculine and feminine features) is the misleading name. Biological concept give the gate refer either to evolutionary psychology (brain being not the learning machine shaped by coating, but having the innate skills and predispositions endowed by natural selection. Further, biological determinism is focused on the large concourse of people (differences between men and women or between the races). Finally, biological determinism fails to address the question of individual patrimonial destiny - how much of intelligence are heritable and how much of phobias are shaped by the culture and experiences (Johnson 2002). The idea that we are a mix of nature and nurture would seem to be common star by now. Beyond the basic support systems - breathing, excreting - human personalities are the product of social existence, arriving readiness of parents, teachers, peer groups, media, dominant ideologies and cu ltural norms the product, in other words, of history, both personal and public. Biological determinism limits the human drumhead purely to abstract learning machines. Sure, all people share the same body plan and believably might have similar DNA to chimpanzee, however, the human brain is another matter. Natural selection flora to homogenize a species into a standard overall design by concentrating the effective genes--the ones that build well-functioning organs--and sift out the ineffective ones. Just as we all have the same physical organs, we have the same mental organs (Johnson 2002, p. 12). This is most obvious in the case of language, where every neurologically intact child is render to acquire any human language but it is true of other parts of the mind as well. Discarding the blank slate has thrown far to a greater extent light on the psychological unity of mankind than on any differences. Of course, some of the assumptions underlining the biological determinism theory can be referred to as logical. In particular, men might prove to be on average better mathematician than women, while women prove to be more accomplished at the social interactions. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that biological determinism is based on average assumptions men on average are more prone to violence than women, but any given fair sex might well be more violent