Word: herrnsteins
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Herrnstein proceeds to observe, correctly, that his premises will be reinforced by a social policy that minimizes inequalities of opportunity, optimizes the environment in which all individuals develop, and increases the dependence of social success and earnings on mental abilities. Clearly, if environmentally determined variations in mental abilities are minimized, the genetically determined variations will become more apparent. If the syllogism is correct, the conclusion would then become more forceful. Herrnstein visualizes a hereditary meritocracy becoming established in a highly stratified society as a result of liberal social policy goals and of the heritability of mental abilities. He is clearly...
...Does current social policy really have liberalizing goals? Despite the rhetoric, many of us have been driven to a negative answer in recent years by evidence too painful to overlook any more. As Herrnstein himself states, we simply do not know how much, if any, of the current I.Q. difference between social groups is genetically determined. (Herrnstein fortunately avoids Jensen's fallacious extrapolation of heritability from data within a group to a comparison between groups.) If, as is entirely possible, external rather than genetic inequalities are primarily responsible for current I.Q. differences between social classes, and if these external inequalities...
...long term, Herrnstein's syllogism is relevant. But incorrect. Because, by premise, its vision is utterly limited to a society based on competition, "built around human inequalities." I consider Herrnstein's article very useful, because a-reader with a broader vision can stand the argument on its head and derive the inevitable conclusion, which the author cannot or dares not derive. If a liberal society based on competition results in a rigidly stratified meritocracy, maybe we don't want a liberal society based on competition. If we still want our society to be liberal and progressive...
...condemn as dangerous and unscientific, the racist, sexist, and anti-working class theories of genetic inferiority propagated by R. Herrnstein, W. Schockley and A. Jensen. There is no scientific warrant for ascribing to genetic factors the oppressed conditions of classes and ethnic groups...
...oppose the faculty advertisement in the Crimson of November 29, as being pernicious, insensitive and misleading. Professor Herrnstein's article in the Atlantic is not a scholarly article and therefore the issue of academic freedom is irrelevant to this public and political controversy. We are furthermore concerned about the chilling effect of that advertisement on legitimate political actions and on reasoned discussion of the issues raised by Herrnstein's article. Philip J. Lawrence, Secretary Graduate Students of the History of Science Department...