Discussants (and listeners) welcome for a "dialogue session" on "Heterogeneity
and heritability: Responses from sociology, philosophy, and history of science"
to be held at the meetings of the Society for Social Studies of Science,
Vancouver, BC, 2-4 November 2006, but incorporating participants from History of
Science Society, and Philosophy of Science Association.

There is long and politically charged history of scientific and policy debates
about the heritability of IQ test scores and genetic explanations of the
differences between the mean scores for racial groups. In a pair of papers,
"Heterogeneity and heritability" (to appear in the new science studies journal,
Biological Theory: Integrating Development, Evolution and Cognition), Peter
Taylor argues that, despite the attention given to these debates by researchers
and other critical commentators, including science studies scholars, significant
conceptual and methodological issues in quantitative and behavioral genetics
have been overlooked or not well appreciated. In particular, when similar
responses of different genetically defined types are observed, it should not be
assumed that similar conjunctions of genetic or environmental factors have been
involved in producing those responses. Allowing the homogeneity of factors to be
questioned opens up many issues for the different fields in science studies.

Further details and link to the precirculated paper at
http://www.faculty.umb.edu/peter_taylor/4S06.html

Back to ISHPSSB Listserv on the Web