The Mismeasure of Man, by Stephen Jay Gould (1996), - Essay Example

Other (s) The Mismeasure of Man, by Stephen Jay Gould Stephen Gould’s article d The MisMeasure of Man (1996) is generally a powerful and well researched publication that critically challenges the arguments of biological determinism. From chapter one to five, the author effectively highlights some of the fallacies of using physiological and intellectual measurements such as the IQ tests to compare men. The article not only challenges the methodological accuracy of The bell Curve which was published in 1994 by Charles Murray and Richard Hernstein but he also argues against the notion of abstracting intelligence as a single entity that is located within brain.

According to Gould (56), abstract intelligence measurements have been misleadingly used by a number of scientists to quantify and rank people into classes, races and sexes. Gould also clearly explains that human personality is generally quite complex and can not therefore be measured merely by a few standardized tests and narrow theories. In my opinion, the author has not only presented a concise criticism of how the past and contemporary societies have attempted to rank people on using a measure of their intellect, but article has also suggested a logical analysis of the inconsistencies of various theories that were largely prejudicially motivated.

Additionally the book has effectively offered a well reasoned assessment of the various errors that have been underlying some of the empirical claims and theories. Lastly, I concur with the arguments of the author that the contemporary physiological and intellectual measurements such as g factor analysis should be replaced by models that measure more than one aspect of human intelligence.Works CitedGould, Stephen J. The Mismeasure of Man: Revised edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.1996.Print.