Wilson, Edward Osborne

Wilson, Edward Osborne, 1929–, American sociobiologist, b. Birmingham, Ala. Founder of sociobiology, Wilson argued in his controversial Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975) that all human behavior, including altruism, is genetically based, and therefore “selfish.” He later called for careful study of “gene-cultural co-evolution.” Critics have called sociobiology a dangerously reductive determinism that could be used to defend notions of racial superiority and eugenics; others have defended Wilson's evidence and biological reasoning. Wilson's On Human Nature (1978) won the Pulitzer Prize; Biophilia (1984) suggests that human attraction to other living things is innate; Consilience (1998) urges wider integration of the sciences; and The Creation (2006) pleads for a unified effort by secular and religious thinkers to save the earth's biodiversity. Other books by Wilson are Insect Societies (1971), The Diversity of Life (1992), The Ants, with Bert Hölldobler (1990; Pulitzer Prize), and The Future of Life (2002).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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