A slow-paced but utterly intriguing examination of the development
of the "moral sense" that governs human conduct in all cultures and
times. Wilson (Management and Public Policy/UCLA; On Character,
1991, etc.) contends that most modern sociologies and psychologies
are flawed insofar as they maintain that there's no such thing as
an identifiable "human nature" that will develop under most
circumstances without external coercion. The legal theories of John
Rawls, the political agendas of Marx and Lenin, and much of
Freudian psychology were organized around this idea - which Wilson
claims to be demonstrably false. Basing his own theory upon a large
body of experimental research, Wilson holds that the development of
empathy, conscience, and altruism is a natural process that takes
place as an inevitable response to the contradictions of childhood
socialization. "We learn to cope with the people of this world,"
Wilson says, "because we learn to cope with the members of our
family." The family is the crucial element in the process, and
Wilson points to the weakening of the family bond as the root of
most of today's social dysfunctionalism. Parts of his argument -
particularly his pessimism regarding the effects of nonmaternal
child care - will be a provocation to orthodox feminists, but
there's nothing doctrinaire or simplistic in Wilson's critique of
our current wisdoms. (His extensive notes and bibliography will be
useful to scholars interested in the field.) Dry and overly
anecdotal at times, but Wilson manages to take sociology out of the
realm of theory without reducing it to policy. A refreshing and
timely work. (Kirkus Reviews)
Are human beings naturally endowed with a conscience? Or is
morality artificially acquired through social pressure and
instruction? Most people assume that modern science proves the
latter. Further, most of our current social policies are based upon
this "scientific" view of the sources of morality. In this book,
however, James Q. Wilson seeks to reconcile traditional ideas with
a range of important empirical research into the sources of human
behavior over the last fifty years. Marshalling evidence drawn from
diverse scientific disciplines, including animal behavior,
anthropology, evolutionary theory, biology, endocrinology, brain
science, genetics, primatology, education and psychology, Wilson
shows that the facts about the origin and development of moral
reasoning are not at odds with traditional views predating Freud,
Darwin and Marx. Our basic sense of right and wrong actually does
have a biological and behavioral origin. This "moral sense" arises
from the infant's innate sociability, though it must also be
nurtured by parental influence. Thus, this book revives ancient
traditions of moral and ethical argument that go back to Aristotle,
and reunifies the separate streams of philosophical and scientific
knowledge that for so long were regarded as unbridgeable.
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