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Cultural Explanations are Necessary Also

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Claude S. Phillips
Claude S. Phillips*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008
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Abstract

If this study were designed merely to prove that part of the explanation for despotism and differential reproduction exists in the genetic propensity of men to compete, to use power to serve their own interests, and to express that interest by seeking a variety of sexual partners, there would be little need for comment. Such a book could have been written in half the pages used. An inordinate amount of space, however, is used by the author in (1) rejecting any basis except biology to explain despotism; (2) castigating any possible use of culture in explaining differentials in male reproduction; (3) apologizing for her findings that evolution has led to inequality in both production and reproduction, a condition the author deplores; and (4) insisting that equality can be effected if humans simply decide to satisfy genetic propensities differently (which surely is a cultural matter since only humans can perceive the concept of evolution and attempt to change society's use of it).

Type
Book Reviews
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , August 1987 , pp. 97 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

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References

Fisher, H. E. (1982). The Sex Contract: The Evolution of Human Behavior. New York: William Morrow & Co.Google Scholar
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Ottenberg, S., and Ottenberg, P. (1960). “Introduction.” In Ottenberg, S. and Ottenberg, P. (eds.), Cultures and Societies in Africa. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Sahlins, M., and Service, E. (1960). Evolution and Culture. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar