This rigorous analysis of current social issues exposes the ways in which public debate has been confused by moral and political dogma.Among educated people there is a constellation of accepted "truths" about the world. Often only superficially plausible, they are uncontested because they reflect much of what the public wishes to believe. In this book, Steven Goldberg examines the scientific question of how the world does work, not the moral/political question of how it should work, reminding the reader that while neither logic nor science can ever enable someone to select a moral or political position, conclusions based on a faulty view of the world are always unsuccessful.In Part One - "Why We Behave as We Do" - Goldberg examines the death penalty; the questions of "normality"; the meaning of behavioral cause; the theory of patriarchy; myths (and truths) about black athletic superiority; and the value of standardized tests.In Part Two - "Why We View the World as We Do" - he examines the truths in stereotypes; the logical structure of Freudian theory; the "correct" use of language; the abortion issue; and science, social science, and bad social science.Because Goldberg addresses widely held but erroneous beliefs with an energetic logic rarely found in writings on these subjects, this volume is a refreshingly direct response to our "politically correct" times.

Steven Goldberg has devoted his career to exposing fallacious reasoning, misrepresented fact, and ideological agendas in the social sciences. His scholarly critiques offer alternative, and sometimes controversial, explanations that are notable for their logical integrity and loyalty to empirical reality. Best known for his work in the physiological roots of sex differences, he has also written on a myriad of other subjects, which, as he bluntly states, "are as fallaciously reasoned in professional journals as in the cocktail party conversations that naively repeat the errors first propounded in those journals." In this new collection of essays he is as lively, interesting, and provocative as ever. Among the subjects addressed are the validity of intelligence tests, group differences, the death penalty, sex differences in aggression and cognition, the family, abortion, and the nature of modern society. Also included are a couple of polemics, observations on the O. J. Simpson trial, and a moving encomium to his hero, Jackie Robinson. Goldberg's work has been praised by reviewers as "persuasive and accurate"(Margaret Mead); "coolly, tightly, even brilliantly reasoned" (Morton Kaplan); and "the most significant . . . on the subject in decades" (Murray Rothbard). Readers who appreciate razor-sharp rigor and logical elegance will be richly rewarded by these essays on many of the most hotly contested issues of the social sciences.