Page "Sociobiology" Paragraph 37

Wilson's claims that he had never meant to imply what ought to be, only what is the case are supported by his writings, which are descriptive, not prescriptive.

However, some critics have argued that the language of sociobiology sometimes slips from " is " to " ought ", leading sociobiologists to make arguments against social reform on the basis that socially progressive societies are at odds with our innermost nature.

Views such as this, however, are often criticized as examples of the naturalistic fallacy, when reasoning jumps from descriptions about what is to prescriptions about what ought to be.

( A common example is the justification of militarism if scientific evidence showed warfare was part of human nature.

) It has also been argued that opposition to stances considered anti-social, such as ethnic nepotism, are based on moral assumptions, not bioscientific assumptions, meaning that it is not vulnerable to being disproved by bioscientific advances.

The history of this debate, and others related to it, are covered in detail by Cronin ( 1992 ), Segerstråle ( 2000 ), Alcock ( 2001 ), and most recently by Griffith ( 2011 ).