SSI2 Nature/Nurture Timeline

By ktremington

  • John Locke publishes "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding"

    establishes "blank slate" / tabula rasa theory; humans are born a "blank slate", but are changed by experience

  • Darwin publishes "Origin of Species"

    establishes evolutionary biology, which later leads to sociobiology

  • Francis Galton publishes "English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture"

    Galton founds "eugenics"; on the "nature" side

  • John B. Watson becomes a prominent behavioral psychologist

    Watson's experiments are behavioral, leaning entirely on the "nurture" side (example: the "Little Albert" experiment)

  • George C. Williams publishes "Adaptation and Natural Selection: A Critique of Some Current Evolutionary Thought"

    introduces the gene-centered view of evolution

  • E.O. Wilson publishes "Sociobiology"

    Kicks off debate between Wilson and Gould/Lewontin; popularizes the term "sociobiology"

  • Richard Dawkins publishes "The Selfish Gene"

    a continuation of George C. William's ideas; popularized gene-centered evolution

  • Stephen Jay Gould publishes "Biological Potentiality vs Biological Determinism"

    published in direct response to "Sociobiology"; criticizes the application of sociobiology to humans, and reframes the debate (potentialism vs determinism)

  • E.O. Wilson publishes "On Human Nature"

    a "sequel" to "Sociobiology"; expands on theories of sociobiology

  • Lewontin, Rose & Kamin publish "Not In Our Genes: Biology, Ideology and Human Nature"

    criticizes genetic determinism and sociobiology; based in Marxist theory

  • Judith Rich Harris publishes "The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do"

    backed by Pinker; personality is not entirely determined by upbringing, and parental influence is not as influential as peer influence

  • Stephen Pinker publishes "The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature"

    Pinker argues against the "blank slate"