Killer apes, naked apes, & just plain nasty people : the misuse and abuse of science in politics / Richard J. Perry.

Killer apes, naked apes, and just plain nasty people

Baltimore, Maryland : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015.

xiii, 212 pages ; 23 cm

Introduction. Where are we going with this? There's a history here -- What's in a word.

1. Don't get me started. Humans and "Nature" -- It wasn't always about biology -- But maybe they really are different! -- It's all uphill from here -- Romantic supremacy -- Philosophical biology -- Biological stories. -- 2, Eugenics: Bad people, good people, better people. The right sorts of people -- What's to be done? -- Parasites and pests -- Manipulating biology -- The gift of IQ -- Boas and "Fixed Traits" -- Out with eugenics, for now; but we still have IQ! -- 3. Killer apes, naked apes, and just plain nasty people. Enter the killer apes... -- Followed by the naked ape... -- Followed by nasty people -- It gets worse -- A serious flaw in the argument -- I know, but it still seems real -- Back to eugenics. -- 4. Mind games. Social programs? Not so fast -- Seeing double -- Wait - What were those scores again? -- You say heritability, I say inheritance - Let's call the whole thing off -- Let's get that social ranking straight -- Nothing if not persistent -- Twins, again! -- Hot air from Canada and from across the Pond -- Everyone needs a friend. -- 5. Sociobiology: A new science of the same old thing. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise" -- Edward, have you met Herbert? -- Quiet...I think the genes are up to something -- What's good for the goose -- Wait...Are we still doing science? -- Pull up a chair; It's story time -- The generic "Primitive" -- Americans and Brits: The generic humans -- A genetic guide to behavior. -- 6. And yet another new science of the same old thing. It blinded them with science -- It takes a village -- Making the exotic familiar, and the familiar genetic -- Waltz of the pseudohypotheses -- What's with the big brain, anyway? -- What, indeed? -- 7. That's just about enough of that. "When wild in the woods the noble savage ran" -- Steven - You look as if you've seen a ghost -- Calm down; It's only an abstraction -- Are you still here? -- What's the big deal? -- What's the score so far? -- Some things we do know about the Pleistocene -- Going off script -- Battle of the sexes? -- A word about ethnography. -- 8. It's not that simple. So what's the alternative? -- Ah, tradition -- Somehow it all fits. -- 9. What's the agenda? Solutions that cause problems -- The beat goes on -- Reflections on the mystique of science.

Includes bibliographical references and index.