Ethology

Ethology is, loosely, the study of animal behaviour. A relatively new science, it goes against the prevailing trend of the cognitive revolution. Ethology's forebears are Behaviourism such as Pavlov, to be contrasted with cognitive science.

The last bastion of behaviourism, it takes refuge in animal behaviour. It should remain there, but within it is inherently, the danger of a Trojan Horse which implies that underlying the human mind is an ineffable animal machine. As the longtime opponent of the science of cognition, Behaviourism and Ethology are more or less the antithesis of Mind, Volition, Spirit, and Freedom of Choice.

This is the stuff that drives religious people crazy about science; seeing people as machines. Quite evidently, people either are not merely machines, or refuse to see themselves as such even if they are, so it lends emotional weight to arguments against science and for religion.

On the other hand, it also is the stuff that drives immoral people to justify their actions as merely human nature, as if there was no way that humans might be able to rise above mere animal instincts. War is acceptable, goes the argument, because it is inevitable; quite ignoring the possibility of Free Will.

May Ethology rust in pieces.

See also: Wikipedia:Ethology