Eugenics and the Nature–Nurture

Debate in the Twentieth Century

Previous books by Aaron Gillette:

Racial Theories in Fascist Italy (London: Routledge, 2002)

 Eugenics and the
Nature–Nurture
Debate in the
Twentieth Century

Aaron Gillette
EUGENICS AND THE NATURE–NURTURE DEBATE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Copyright © Aaron Gillette, 2007.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-8422-7
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2007 by
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
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Union and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-53971-0 ISBN 978-0-230-60890-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230608900
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gillette, Aaron, 1964–
Eugenics and the nature-nurture debate in the twentieth century / by
Aaron Gillette.
p. cm.

1. Eugenics. 2. Evolutionary psychology. 3. Social ethics. I. Title.

HQ751.G48 2007
363.92––dc22 2007003715
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: November 2007
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For my mother
Roxane Price
This page intentionally left blank
 Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Part I
The Rebirth of Sociobiology
and Evolutionary Psychology
1 Foundations for a “New” Synthesis 21
2 Recent Studies on Human Sexuality 27

Part II
The Birth of Sociobiology
and Evolutionary Psychology
3 The Animal Nature of Humans 41
4 Earlier Studies on Human Sexuality 61
5 Evolution, Ethics, and Culture 95

Part III
The Death of Sociobiology
and Evolutionary Psychology
6 The Rise of Environmental Behaviorism 107
7 Evolutionary Psychology under Attack 121
8 The Death of Evolutionary Psychology 135
viii CONTENTS

9 Lost in the Wilderness 157

Conclusion 163

List of Abbreviations 169

Notes 171
Bibliography 201
Index 219
 Acknowledgments

y sincere thanks go to Elof Carlson, Geoffrey Miller, and Jonathan

M Spiro for discussions on various aspects of this work. Jeff Jackson,
Brian Alnutt, David Weiden, and Michael Gelb read and offered very
helpful suggestions on parts of the manuscript.
The staffs of many libraries and archives played a key role in the
completion of this work. Especially noteworthy is the assistance of the
inter-library loan staff of George Mason University and the University of
Maryland College Park. Judith May-Sapko, Special Collections Librarian/
Archivist of the Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University, cheer-
fully spent many hours helping me obtain documents. Above all, Shannon
Cunningham and the inter-library loan staff of the University of Houston-
Downtown were truly remarkable in their dedication to obtaining the
materials used in this work. Patrick Kerwin of the Manuscript Division of
the Library of Congress, Marianne Kasica of the University of Pittsburgh
Archives, and Mott Lin of Clark University Archives provided help at crit-
ical moments. Holly Heighes graciously provided invaluable assistance
uncovering important information in the Robert Yerkes Papers of Yale
University. Funding for this project came from George Mason University
Department of History and Art History and the American Heritage Center
of the University of Wyoming.