Editing E. O. Wilson (section)

====Reception and controversy====
''Sociobiology: The New Synthesis'' was initially met with praise by most biologists.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> After substantial criticism of the book was launched by the [[Sociobiology Study Group]], associated with the organization [[Science for the People]], a major controversy known as the "sociobiology debate" ensued,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> and Wilson was accused of [[racism]], [[misogyny]], and support for [[eugenics]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Douglas |first=Ed |date=February 17, 2001 |title=Darwin's natural heir |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2001/feb/17/books.guardianreview57 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> Several of Wilson's colleagues at Harvard,<ref name="grafen75">{{cite book |title=Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think |last=Grafen |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Grafen |author2=Ridley, Mark |author2-link=Mark Ridley (zoologist) |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City |isbn=0-19-929116-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/richarddawkinsho00alan/page/75 75] |title-link=Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think }}</ref> such as [[Richard Lewontin]] and [[Stephen Jay Gould]], both members of the Group, were strongly opposed. Both focused their criticism mostly on Wilson's sociobiological writings.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jumonville |first=Neil |date=2002 |title=The Cultural Politics of the Sociobiology Debate |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4331761 |journal=Journal of the History of Biology |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=569–593 |doi=10.1023/A:1021190227056 |jstor=4331761 |s2cid=83077910 |issn=0022-5010}}</ref> Gould, Lewontin, and other members, wrote "Against 'Sociobiology'" in an [[open letter]] criticizing Wilson's "deterministic view of human society and human action".<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Schreier|first1=Herb|last2=Rosenthal|first2=Miriam|last3=Pyeritz|first3=Reed|last4=Miller|first4=Larry|last5=Madansky|first5=Chuck|last6=Lewontin|first6=Richard C.|last7=Leeds|first7=Anthony|last8=Inouye|first8=Hiroshi|last9=Hubbard|first9=Ruth|title=Against "Sociobiology"|journal=The New York Review of Books|language=en|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1975/11/13/against-sociobiology/|access-date=December 28, 2021|issn=0028-7504}}</ref> Other public lectures, reading groups, and press releases were organized criticizing Wilson's work. In response, Wilson produced a discussion article entitled "Academic Vigilantism and the Political Significance of Sociobiology" in ''[[BioScience]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Dialogue. The Response: Academic Vigilantism and the Political Significance of Sociobiology|first=Edward O.|last= Wilson|journal=[[BioScience]]|volume= 26 |issue=3 |date=March 1976|pages= 183, 187–190| publisher=[[University of California Press]]|doi=10.2307/1297247|jstor=1297247}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first = Adrian | last = Wooldridge | author-link = Adrian Wooldridge | title = Measuring the Mind: Education and Psychology in England c.1860-c.1990| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0-521-39515-1 | url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/measuring-the-mind/01C74BB51BFF67CB064EEA01102C3057 | chapter = Equality and human nature| pages = 369–373 }}</ref>

In February 1978, while participating in a discussion on sociobiology at the annual meeting of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], Wilson was surrounded, chanted at and doused with water{{Efn|While primary and eyewitness accounts agree that the phrase "Racist Wilson you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!" was chanted, and that water was poured on Wilson's head, they disagree on whether a cup<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hull |first=David L. |author-link=David Hull (philosopher) |date=12 October 2000 |title=Activism, scientists and sociobiology |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=407 |issue=6805 |pages=673–674 |doi=10.1038/35037645 |bibcode=2000Natur.407..673H |s2cid=142764821 |issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Gould Fox"/> or a pitcher/jug<ref>{{cite news|title=Water Poured on Harvard Professor's Head|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date= February 16, 1978|page=24|url=https://sfchronicle.newsbank.com/doc/image/v2:142051F45F422A02@NGPA-CASFC-15343D3E57695588@2443556-153293594F0FE3C3@23-153293594F0FE3C3|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Segerstråle |first1=Ullica |author1-link=Ullica Segerstråle |title=Defenders of the Truth: The Battle for Science in the Sociobiology Debate and Beyond |date=2000 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-850505-1 |page=23 |url=https://archive.org/details/segerstrale-defenders-of-the-truth-the-sociobiology-debate-2000/page/22/mode/2up |language=English}}</ref> was used.}} by members of the [[International Committee Against Racism]], who accused Wilson of advocating racism and [[Biological determinism|genetic determinism]]. Steven Jay Gould, who was present at the event, and Science for the People, which had previously protested Wilson, condemned the attack.<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 14| last = Cooke| first = Robert| title = Protesters douse Harvard speaker| work = The Boston Globe | date = 1978-02-16| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109525538/attack-on-eo-wilson-at-1978-aaas/}}</ref><ref name="Gould Fox">{{cite book |last1=Gould |first1=Stephen Jay |title=The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox: Mending the Gap Between Science and the Humanities |date=2003 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-609-60140-2 |page=204 |url=https://archive.org/details/hedgehogfoxmagis0000goul/page/204/mode/2up}}</ref>

Philosopher [[Mary Midgley]] encountered ''Sociobiology'' in the process of writing ''Beast and Man'' (1979)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Midgley |first1=Mary |title=Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |location=London [u.a.] |isbn=0-415-12740-8 |page=xli |edition= Rev.}}</ref> and significantly rewrote the book to offer a critique of Wilson's views. Midgley praised the book for the study of animal behavior, clarity, scholarship, and encyclopedic scope, but extensively critiqued Wilson for conceptual confusion, [[scientism]], and [[anthropomorphism]] of genetics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Midgley |first1=Mary |title=Beast and man: the roots of human nature |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |location=London [u.a.] |isbn=0-415-12740-8 |page=xl |edition= Rev.}}</ref>