Evolutionary explanations of human behaviour are increasingly popular today, challenging long-cherished notions of free will and subjectivity. Even religious faith is said to have its basis in the evolution of the brain: earlier this year researchers at Oxford University began a two million pound study into the evolutionary basis for belief in God. Other studies have claimed to find a genetic basis for political beliefs and behaviour – apparently liberals can be picked out by the activity of their anterior cingulate cortex, and voter turnout is correlated to particular alleles of the gene MAOA.
Critics argue that such thinking wrongly belittles the importance of human agency. Indeed, 30 years ago works like EO Wilson’s Sociobiology, which suggested a biological basis for social behaviour, were greeted with anger, derision, and accusations of closet fascism. Is the renewed interest in the evolutionary, genetic and psychological basis of human behaviour inspired by new evidence, or a diminished view of the human condition? Are social and cultural phenomena beyond the proper scope of natural science, or have we just become less hysterical about turning the microscope on ourselves?