Darwinian Sociology Without Social Darwinism?

It is observed that '10 yrs after the Darwinian centennial, sociol'ts are discovering professionally what they must have known all along: that man is an animal.' The implications of this discovery for the study of soc systems are explored. Soc facts may be founded on biological structure & soc diff Is may be influenced by genetic factors. Both ideas shake the foundations of classical sociol. The recent contributions of physical anthrop'ts, comparative psychol'ts, evolutionists, ethnologists, ecologists, & geneticists are briefly summarized. The pitfalls to be avoided include: hasty extrapolation from animal to HB; disregard for HB in specific situations & the impossibility to test a theory empirically; lack of a standard measure by which adaptation can be defined; viewing soc or cultural systems outside their extra-cultural contexts. It is concluded that modern biological concepts & data can find a useful place in the human behavioral sci's, but such an influence must not lead back to a crude soc Darwinism. The 'strong theory' however, is of little use to the soc sci'st; much more advantage is to be gained from the 'weak theory' of human biological evolution. Biological, traditionally sociol'al, & anthrop'al orientations must be combined in an effort to understand the uniqueness of HB. M. Maxfield.