Editing E. O. Wilson (section)

===''Consilience'', 1998===
In his 1998 book ''[[Consilience (book)|Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge]]'', Wilson discussed methods that have been used to unite the sciences and might be able to unite the sciences with the humanities. He argued that knowledge is a single, unified thing, not divided between science and humanistic inquiry.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gillespie|first=Charles C.|year=1998|title=E. O. Wilson's ''Consilience'': A Noble, Unifying Vision, Grandly Expressed|journal=[[American Scientist]]|volume=86|issue=3|pages=280–283|issn=0003-0996|jstor=27857028}}</ref> Wilson used the term "[[consilience]]" to describe the synthesis of knowledge from different specialized fields of human endeavor. He defined [[human nature]] as a collection of [[Epigenetics|epigenetic]] rules, the genetic patterns of mental development. He argued that culture and rituals are products, not parts, of human nature. He said art is not part of human nature, but our appreciation of art is. He suggested that concepts such as art appreciation, fear of snakes, or the [[incest]] [[taboo]] ([[Westermarck effect]]) could be studied by scientific methods of the natural sciences and be part of interdisciplinary research.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Consilience |last=Wilson |first= Edward O. |date=March 30, 1999 |url= |access-date= |isbn=9780679768678 |oclc=53085903 |publisher = [[Penguin Random House]] |language=en-US}}</ref>