Page "Sociobiology" Paragraph 36

Wilson and his supporters counter the intellectual link by denying that Wilson had a political agenda, still less a right-wing one.

They pointed out that Wilson had personally adopted a number of liberal political stances and had attracted progressive sympathy for his outspoken environmentalism.

They argued that as scientists they had a duty to uncover the truth whether that was politically correct or not.

They argued that sociobiology does not necessarily lead to any particular political ideology, as many critics implied.

Many subsequent sociobiologists, including Robert Wright, Anne Campbell, Frans de Waal and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, have used sociobiology to argue quite separate points.

Noam Chomsky roundly criticized sociobiology and many of its proponents, saying " Even if we grant every factual conclusion for which some shred of evidence is claimed, nothing of interest follows, except on assumptions that reflect ideological fanaticism, not science.

" He also noted that the anarchist Peter Kropotkin had touched on the ideas of sociobiology ( he claims that Kropotkin rather than E. O.

Wilson had actually founded the field ) in his book Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, although focusing more on altruism than aggression, suggesting that anarchist societies were feasible because of an innate human tendency to cooperate.