Sociology and Biological Determinism - Essay Example

Before the hormones were found in the early 1920s, scientists believed that sex differences arose from physiologically active substances - the talented women had high level of masculine genes. If the early 20th century such assumptions were logical, today biological determinism fails both in terms of sociology and biology. Contemporary neuroendocrinologists disagree with the key assumptions of biological determinism and point out that the idea of sex hormones is completely misleading (Miller 2000).

The characteristics the society attributed to masculinity and femininity are not reflections of biological processes. Gould noted that the critique of biological determinism is timeless and timely at the same time. It is timeless because biological determinism is based on deep errors. It is timely because the same arguments about biological determinism arise at all times (Gould 1999). The first problem with biological determinism as the explanation of social factors (in particular, differentiating between masculine and feminine features) is the misleading name.

Biological concept can refer either to evolutionary psychology (brain being not the learning machine shaped by culture, but having the innate skills and predispositions endowed by natural selection. Further, biological determinism is focused on the large group of people (differences between men and women or between the races). Finally, biological determinism fails to address the question of individual genetic destiny - how much of intelligence are heritable and how much of phobias are shaped by the culture and experiences (Johnson 2002).

The idea that we are a mix of nature and nurture would seem to be common sense by now. Beyond the basic support systems - breathing, excreting - human personalities are the product of social existence, arriving courtesy of parents, teachers, peer groups, media, dominant ideologies and cultural norms: the product, in other words, of history, both personal and public. Biological determinism limits the human mind purely to abstract learning machines. Sure, all people share the same body plan and probably might have similar DNA to chimpanzee, however, the human brain is another matter.

"Natural selection works to homogenize a species into a standard overall design by concentrating the effective genes--the ones that build well-functioning organs--and winnowing out the ineffective ones. Just as we all have the same physical organs, we have the same mental organs" (Johnson 2002, p. 12). This is most obvious in the case of language, where every neurologically intact child is equipped to acquire any human language; but it is true of other parts of the mind as well. Discarding the blank slate has thrown far more light on the psychological unity of humankind than on any differences.

Of course, some of the assumptions underlining the biological determinism theory can be referred to as logical. In particular, men might prove to be on average better mathematician than women, while women prove to be more accomplished at the social interactions. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that biological determinism is based on average assumptions: men on average are more prone to violence than women, but any given woman might well be more violent