Third colloquium: Social sciences

The third colloquium consists of five sessions which were held between August 2022 and April 2023. The five sessions are dedicated to the topic of the social-scientific study of human nature. Here is a brief description of the overall topic these sessions address:

For many people today, the social sciences constitute one of the major sources of knowledge about human nature. In other words, when confronted with questions about the nature of the human being, they often turn to the social sciences— including history, anthropology, sociology, and psychology—for answers. This is, in fact, a relatively recent phenomenon, and the social sciences as we know them are modern inventions. It is also the case that between the social sciences and even within each discipline there are many disagreements about the nature of the human being. One area of debate, for example, is whether we are ultimately inclined by nature towards competition or cooperation. In answering such questions, many social scientists appeal to the idea of evolution in their research, raising questions about the origins of our most foundational instincts and whether human nature is fixed. Others, impressed by the nearly infinite cultural diversity they study, argue that there is no such thing as a common human nature. Some even denounce this idea as an oppressive Western invention promoted by social scientists with imperial and colonial agendas. This colloquium is dedicated to an exploration of some of these debates, in order to better understand how assumptions about human nature inform the social sciences, and how these sciences in turn shape popular understandings of who we are.

The first session explores some of the ways in which the idea of evolution informs social-scientific discourse about human nature, and the strengths and limitations of how this is typically done. The second session describes the oscillation in social science research and practice between pessimistic and naive assumptions about human nature. The third session traces some of the ways in which prejudice is and has been woven into social science research on human nature. The fourth session examines insights that emerge about human nature in the context of cross-cultural research, and problems that are sometimes created at the same time. Finally, the fifth session focuses on the influence psychological research has on popular understandings of the nature of the human being.

Session One: Evolution in the social sciences

In this session, some of the ways in which the idea of evolution informs discourse about human nature in the social sciences, and the strengths and limitations of how this is typically done, are explored.

Session Two: Oscillating between pessimism and naïveté

The second session is dedicated to an exploration of the oscillation in social science research and practice between pessimistic and naive assumptions about human nature.

Session Three: Prejudice and the study of human nature

In this session, the panelists trace some of the ways in which prejudice is and has been woven into some social science research, distorting conceptions of human nature.

Session Four: Encountering cultural diversity

This session of the colloquium on human nature and the social sciences explores questions in the social sciences about human nature in relation to cultural diversity.

Session Five: Psychology and human nature

The fifth session of the colloquium on human nature and the social sciences focuses on the influence psychological research has on popular understandings of the nature of the human being.