Abstract
The incest taboo has been the subject of much curiosity since the mid-19th century. While the taboo and its violation have consumed much attention especially concerning the abuse of children, other scholars have focused on the origin of the incest taboo. This focus on origin created a division between those who ascribed to Darwin’s selection theory and those who recognized environmental conditions. In the latter case what has been underdeveloped is an understanding of materialist-environmental theory as a powerful explanation for understanding complex human behaviors. In the following article I will examine the nature of materialist-environmentalism and its efficacy in explaining sociocultural evolution of human society, the specific evolution of the Hindu taboo against eating beef, and the general sociocultural evolution of the incest taboo, as powerful examples of material-environmental theory. In conclusion I will survey specifically the origin of the incest taboo through environmental theory.
Highlights
The incest taboo has been the subject of much curiosity since the mid-19th century
In the following article I will examine the nature of materialist-environmentalism and its efficacy in explaining sociocultural evolution of human society, the specific evolution of the Hindu taboo against eating beef, and the general sociocultural evolution of the incest taboo, as powerful examples of material-environmental theory
By the 20th century the disciplinary lines in this debate were becoming more pronounced with cultural anthropology and sociology proposing environmental theories and evolutionary biology and psychology asserting a Darwinian model as the chief rival to environmental models
Summary
By the 20th century the disciplinary lines in this debate were becoming more pronounced with cultural anthropology and sociology proposing environmental theories and evolutionary biology and psychology asserting a Darwinian model as the chief rival to environmental models. Wilson purported that materialist-environmental explanations in the social sciences were all but dead and would be replaced by a Darwinian social science scheme This proposed that complex human behaviors could be explained by modern selection theory. Modern Darwinian Theory is based on the premise that evolutionary changes occur one gene mutation at a time This makes it difficult to explain complex biological organisms as well as complex human behavior like incest avoidance As acknowledged in the early social science literature, why would such a rule exist if incest is avoided by an inherent mechanism (White [1949]1969: p. 309)?
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