Final Solutions by Richard M Lerner

Final Solutions by Richard M Lerner

The nature-nurture debate continues to stir controversy in the social and behavioral sciences. How much of human behavior and development can be attributed to biology and how much to the environment? Can either be said to “determine” human development? And what are the implications of each view for society? In this important study, a noted developmental psychologist contributes to this debate by confronting the difficult issue of “doctrines” of human development and the consequences for society of deriving political programs and public policy from them. Beginning with the premise that scientific ideas are not neutral but can be used for either good or evil, Richard Lerner considers the recent history of one such idea, biological determinism, which at times has had the backing of respected scientists, intellectuals, and political leaders. During this century, biological determinism has been coupled with political philosophies that hold that some people are inherently better than others. This has meant that certain groups of people—Jews, Blacks, Native Americans, women—have been stigmatized because of supposedly innate, even “biological,” differences, with sometimes disastrous consequences. The most notorious instance was Nazi Germany, where “racial science,” given legitimacy by the scientific community, became a cornerstone of the Nazi “Final Solution.” Meanwhile, theories of biological determinism continue to find adherents within the scientific community. Konrad Lorenz, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1973, was a critical figure in the development of the most recent manifestation of biological determinism—sociobiology. Lerner examines the work of Lorenz and current sociobiologists and the implications of their claims for modern society. He fears that biological determinism may again be co-opted to serve the political agenda of today’s reactionary politicians. In fact, Lerner notes, sociobiologists have had to face the fact that organizations such as the fascist National Front party in Britain and its counterparts in France and the United States have selectively seized upon sociobiology to fuel their notions of genetically superior and inferior races.

“In this cogently argued work Richard Lerner scrutinizes deterministic views of human nature and documents the pernicious uses to which they have too often been putHe also presents the scientific rationale for a more flexible view of human potential.”

—Howard Gardner,Harvard University

“Professor Lerner tells a story we need to know and presents a perspective we need to consider.”

—Jerry Hirsch,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Final Solutions is a book about the extreme horrors that arise when people take seriously the proposition that there are racial and national characters from which we cannot escape. Unlike other books on Nazi race theory, Final Solutions extends ideas of determinism beyond the purely biological into the cultural as well. Cultural determinism—the doctrine that our cultural heritage passed down by a process of unconscious acculturation is inescapable—differs only in a trivial mechanical detail from biological determinism, the doctrine that we cannot escape our genes. Both biological and cultural determinism deny essential freedom to human consciousness.”

—R.C. Lewontin,from the Foreword

Lerner, Richard M.: -

Richard M. Lerner is the Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science and the Director of the Applied Developmental Science Institute in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University. A developmental psychologist, Lerner received a Ph.D. in 1971 from the City University of New York. He has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Psychological Association, and American Psychological Society. Prior to joining Tufts University, he held administrative posts at Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, and Boston College, where he was the Anita L. Brennan Professor of Education and the Director of the Center for Child, Family, and Community Partnerships. In 1994-95, he held the Tyner Eminent Scholar Chair in the Human Sciences at Florida State University. He is author or editor of 55 books and more than 360 scholarly articles and chapters. He edited Volume 1 (Theoretical Models of Human Development) for the fifth edition of the Handbook of Child Psychology. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Research on Adolescence and Applied Developmental Science. He is known for his theory of, and research about, relations between life-span human development and contextual or ecological change. Lerner has done foundational studies of adolescents' relations with their peer, family, school, and community contexts and is a leader in the study of public policies and community-based programs aimed at the promotion of positive youth development. With Sage, he authored America's Youth in Crisis: Challenges and Options for Programs and Policies (1995), co-edited the four-volume Handbook of Applied Developmental Science, and is co-editing the two-volume Encyclopedia of Applied Developmental Science.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780271007939
ISBN 10	0271007931
Titel	Final Solutions
Autor	Richard M Lerner
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Hardback
Verlag	Pennsylvania State University Press
Erscheinungsjahr	1992-03-20
Seitenanzahl	260
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar