Biological determinism

Melissa Gray Sociology 107 Winter February 15, 2015 Discussion Prompt #5 Using your own words and not using quotes from the book or any other source, describe what biological determinism means. Next, describe what social determinism means. Lastly, describe which of these you think does the best job of describing people’s actions. Biological determinism is the idea that all human behavior is determined by our biology (genetic make-up) or in relation to it as opposed to social or environmental factors. It completely ignores the influence of a person’s culture, race, ethnicity, or gender. It is one sided in its ideals, so much so that it doesn't account for even the basic socialization that all children go through as they are taught by parents, grandparents, friends, and teachers. Biological determinism operates on the assumption that all behaviors have particular causes, which are genetic or related to biological functions. This is so narrow in its concept that it allows for zero room for chance, or free will. This as a theory stands in stark contrast social determinism. It is the idea that society, as opposed to biology, is what determines our behaviors.…

regarded as external to the wheel and nothing is predetermined. Based on the assumptions which are constrained contradicts the idea of empowerment and minimizes the importance of human action and decision making, because a person is morally responsible for his conduct. Determinism is the modern name coined in the nineteenth century instead of Democritus, similarly the fatalism states that every event is predetermined it does not normally requires any casual law or any other changes.…

Students, teachers, politicians, and even random hipsters writing in their blogs all tend to have a very strong opinion on the topic. It has been discussed and argued over countless times. Nature, or the biological factor is not relevant. People are constantly overcoming their disabilities and disadvantages. For example, Rose Siggins, a woman from Pueblo Colombia, has no legs. She out-smarts her disability by riding around on a skate board. Despite not being able to walk, she still…

Biological determinism is the belief that the gender dissimilarity is determined by their physical characteristic. For instance, males are assumed to be naturally more belligerent than women and to be built for providing and protecting. On the other hand, women are designed for domestic work. If biological determinism was to be real, men and women in all societies would behave consistently in their unique ways, because of their inborn biological forces beyond their control. Although the…

As discussed in class, nature is defined as the biological factors that shape a person’s unique set of traits both psychological and physical. On the other hand, the term nurture is defined as how our context or environment influences our psychological and physical aspects. Despite showing a variety of differences, both nature and nurture influence each other in a synergistic bond. On the “nature vs nurture” scale discussed in class, one of the evaluated categories was mental illness. The…

How does Nature vs. Nurture Impact an Individual in their Adulthood? Do you ever ask yourself why you may act like your mom or dad? It is simply the result of the early childhood environment. The environment and how children are raised plays an important role on the impact of a person in their adulthood. The nature vs. nurture controversy to understand how our personalities and traits are produced by our genes and biological factors, and how these traits are shaped by our environment, including…

Nature versus Nurture has been one of the major controversies in all of time. Whether inherited genes or environmental influences can affect one’s personality, behavior, development intelligence, and ability. While nature is mainly characterized by physical attributes inherited from generation to generation, nurture is mainly in control of a person’s character and manner. Either Adam, the monster, could have been born with his savage ways or he could have acquired these ways from society. Nature…

Nature is what we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception e.g. the product of exposure, experience and learning on an individual. Biologists have known for a long time that gene expression is complex and DNA does not decide biology, let alone other characteristics of physical and mental health, behavior and intelligence. Nevertheless, over the years, the…

In opposition to the nurturing approach, “nativists take the position that all of most behaviors and characteristics are the results of inheritance” (Cherry n.pg.). Nativists believe that behaviors are from biological factors such as genetic codes and DNA. Theorists who consider themselves nativists accredits that actions result from evolution. This stance means that genetic traits are passed down through family members which create individual differences. A topic studied by nativists which…

1) Biological Determinism a) One danger of believing that ADHD is biologically deterministic is that stimulant medication becomes more “easily justified and emphasized, while [other intervention methods] become less valued” (Diller, 1996, p.309). This means that whenever there is a patient that is diagnosed with ADHD, the doctor will immediately turn to prescription medication to treat the disorder. This can cause problems for the patient because the medication may not be treating the actual…