Stanford’s Carl N. Degler’s In Search of Human Nature tells the story of the contest between biological and cultural determinists in the social sciences. Much of late 19th-century social science was shaped by a crude Darwinian paradigm. Biological factors like race and sex were considered to be the chief determinants of social behavior. Mental traits and even social customs were thought to be biologically derived. Much Darwinian social science was, in a most precise sense, racist and sexist. (more…) Read more

One of the many ironies of contemporary political discourse is the co-option of Malthus by the political left, for the Rev. Thomas Malthus was undoubtedly a man of the right. His Essay on the Principle of Population was an anti-utopian tract designed to refute what Malthus called, in his original title, “the speculations of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet, and other writers.” He wished to expose the folly of the Enlightenment’s confidence in the perfectibility of man and society. He would... Read more

A number of years ago, Stanley Jaki, a Roman Catholic historian of science, published an article in Modern Age defending the technological acumen of medievals. He cited three medieval inventions that provide evidence “of the striking modernity ofthe Middle Ages.” So many innovations came from the Middle Ages that “as late as the eighteenth century [medieval technology]formed the basis of all industrial skill.” Jaki describes what he calls “the medieval birth of modern science.” The first notable medieval invention was... Read more