Re: Joel and Bryant /talk/ about Antlers and Culture
Len Piotrowski (lpiotrow@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
Wed, 21 Aug 1996 18:42:32 GMT
In article <4v95c2$2joo@argo.unm.edu> mycol1@unm.edu (Bryant) writes:
>[snip]
>>Evolution should not be invoked in the setting of social
>>policy. (e.g. "We're brutal beasts by nature, so let's not talk about
>>measures like disarmament or gun control.") Instead, its understandings
>>should be used to help us determine if a course of action is really going
>>to get us the kind of society we want.
>Well said. I absolutely agree. A pox on social Darwinism!
Just a general reaction to this train of thought: why should social Darwinism
be considered any differently from other means of social control (traditional
or modern)? Why should the latest social management fad be considered any less
suspect? Aren't we just substituting one "scientific" form of social
totalitarianism for another, justifying it by whatever means for whatever
purposes?
Cheers,
--Lenny__
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