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Reductionism, “Bad Science,” and Politics: A Critique of Anti-Reductionist Reasoning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Ullica Segerstråle
Ullica Segerstråle*
Affiliation:
Illinois Institute of Technology, USA
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Abstract

This article examines the recent political-cumepistemological criticism of reductionism in fields such as sociobiology, behavioral ecology, behavioral genetics, and IQ research. It identifies and challenges some unexamined assumptions underlying current “anti-reductionist” reasoning, especially the belief that there are inherent links between political motivations and scientific convictions, between “bad” science and undesirable political consequences, and between methodological and ontological reductionism. The author analyzes the conflict in scientific world views between anti-reductionist “weeders” and reductionist “planters.” Paradoxically, in their criticism of research strategies routinely used by alleged reductionists, anti-reductionists often sound like arch-reductionists themselves. The author argues that the various linked beliefs in anti-reductionist reasoning should be uncoupled, not only for intellectual, but also for political reasons.

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Articles
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Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , August 1992 , pp. 199 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

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