Duke University Press The Mirage of a Space between Nature and Nurture

In this powerful critique, the esteemed historian and philosopher of science Evelyn Fox Keller addresses the nature-nurture debates, including the persistent disputes regarding the roles played by genes and the environment in determining individual traits and behavior. Keller is interested in both how an oppositional “versus” came to be inserted between nature and nurture, and how the distinction on which that opposition depends, the idea that nature and nurture are separable, came to be taken for granted. How, she asks, did the illusion of a space between nature and nurture become entrenched in our thinking, and why is it so tenacious? Keller reveals that the assumption that the influences of nature and nurture can be separated is neither timeless nor universal, but rather a notion that emerged in Anglo-American culture in the late nineteenth century. She shows that the seemingly clear-cut nature-nurture debate is riddled with incoherence. It encompasses many disparate questions knitted together into an indissoluble tangle, and it is marked by a chronic ambiguity in language. There is little consensus about the meanings of terms such as nature, nurture, gene, and environment. Keller suggests that contemporary genetics can provide a more appropriate, precise, and useful vocabulary, one that might help put an end to the confusion surrounding the nature-nurture controversy. Review "Not long ago, I read a beautiful book by Evelyn Fox Keller called The Mirage of a Space Between Nature and Nurture. She's a philosopher of science at MIT. She's one of the most brilliant philosophers of science there is. She writes short but brilliant books, and she's great." --Siri Hustvedt, novelist "Miami Herald" "[Keller] isn't out to mine history; she wants to examine how and why the simple act of placing the word 'versus' between concepts of nature and nurture perpetuates the debate about the science of what shapes us. . . . [H]er arguments, as academic as they are, relate to us all, and get at the essence of our differences. In the end, Keller is hopeful that 'the new science of genetics' will offer a way out of the debate, and possibly eliminate the debate altogether. "-- "Publishers Weekly" "For its careful analysis of the causes of the confusion that continues to keep the nature/nurture debate alive long after it has become clear that the questions motivating the debate have been ill-formed, Fox Keller's book can be highly recommended for classroom teachers or teacher educators. Although the book itself would be difficult for many students, Fox Keller's message is an extremely important one, one that educators really should understand before discussing the nature/nurture debate with their classes."--David S. Moore " Science and Education" "In the finest fashion of philosophical essays, this deeply thought, passionate, generous, and transdisciplinary monograph offers a clear-headed and constructive guide to the nature-nurture wars."--Sarah S. Richardson " Signs" "Keller is one of the most sophisticated and intelligent analysts of the social and psychological forces that operate in intellectual life and, in particular, of the relation of gender in our society both to the creation and acceptance of scientific ideas."--Richard C. Lewontin " New York Review of Books" "Keller's book is valuable because it provides a crisp and articulate statement of the many confusions that pervade our talk of genetics, particularly human genetics. It could be used in both undergraduate and graduate classes that touch on these issues. Moreover, because Keller's focus is on the problems of the language of genetics itself rather than on their instantiation in a particular controversy it brings clearly into focus the underlying problem that cuts across a number of controversies. The book should be taken as a summary of the issues and an agenda for how we proceed from here."--John P. Jackson Jr. "Journal of the History of Biology" "Kell