Can Science Resolve the Nature / Nurture Debate? (New Human Frontiers - Polity)

Can Science Resolve the Nature / Nurture Debate? (New Human Frontiers - Polity)

by Gisli Palsson (Author), Gisli Palsson (Author), Margaret M. Lock (Author)

Synopsis

Following centuries of debate about nature and nurture the discovery of DNA established the idea that nature (genes) determines who we are, relegating nurture (environment) to icing on the cake.

Since the 1950s, the new science of epigenetics has demonstrated how cellular environments and certain experiences and behaviors influence gene expression at the molecular level, with significant implications for health and wellbeing. To the amazement of scientists, mapping the human genome indirectly supported these insights. Anthropologists Margaret Lock and Gisli Palsson outline vituperative arguments from Classical times about the relationship between nature and nurture, furthered today by epigenetic findings and the demonstration of a reactive genome. The nature/nurture debate, they show, can never be put to rest, because these concepts are in constant flux in response to the new insights science continually offers.

$14.20

Quantity

1 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 160
Edition: 1
Publisher: Polity Press
Published: 17 Jun 2016

ISBN 10: 0745689973
ISBN 13: 9780745689975

Media Reviews
We know that nature and nurture are entwined, but we often overlook the fact that neither science nor the humanities alone can resolve the nature/nurture debate. This accessible and clever book introduces the reader to recent discoveries in epigenetics and shows how the new horizons and hopes opened up by this field entail new responsibilities and new types of vigilance.
Eva Jablonka, Tel Aviv University

A cool appraisal of a turbulent field, this fine book exposes an unfolding saga of interdisciplinary dimensions. A radical shift is emerging in the conceptualization of the human body and its environment: the authors' state-of-the-art climax is a message for everyone.
Marilyn Strathern, Girton College, Cambridge
Author Bio
Margaret Lock is Marjorie Bronfman Professor Emerita in Social Studies of Medicine at McGill University

Gisli Palsson is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Iceland