Original Sin
On the Genetics of Vice, the Problem of Blame, and the Future of Forgiveness
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4.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A “magnificent” (Science) exploration of how genetics complicates our ideas about blame, punishment, and moral responsibility, from acclaimed psychologist and author of The Genetic Lottery Kathryn Paige Harden.
“Not a dry, restrained, contained scientific inquiry but a daring, complex, sometimes confounding and ultimately powerful tapestry of a book.”—The New York Times Book Review
As one of the world’s leading scientists examining how our DNA shapes differences in temperament, temptation, and behavior, Kathryn Paige Harden has seen firsthand how we continue to struggle—in public and in our most private relationships—with the ancient tensions between nature and nurture, freedom and constraint, the desire to punish and the longing to forgive.
In Original Sin, she weaves together insights from her own experience as a daughter, mother, wife, and scientist with cutting-edge research in genetics and psychology to grapple with some of the most important questions in modern life: How do we take responsibility for the people we become, knowing how we are shaped by both biology and experience? How should we respond when people hurt each other—or themselves? And has science made guilt obsolete?
Navigating the psychological and biological terrain of addiction, antisocial behavior, and violence, Harden confronts the disorienting ways science unsettles our understanding of wrongdoing and choice. In doing so, she asks us not to absolve but to reckon differently with notions of fairness and blame. A revelatory inquiry into the uneasy space where human behavior meets inherited biology, Original Sin challenges us to imagine a more humane vision of accountability—for ourselves and for one another.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
University of Texas psychology professor Harden (The Genetic Lottery) delivers an incisive exploration of the roles human biology and blameworthiness play in addiction, antisocial behavior, and violence. A former Christian, Harden examines how modern genetics research complicates traditional ideas of free will. The more "biological" a behavior is perceived to be, she explains, the less likely people are to view it as a moral failing; a person who suffers from depression is less likely to blame themselves for their struggles if they believe their genetics are the cause. Meanwhile, those in charge of meting out punishment often downplay biology when it comes to more abhorrent behavior, like violence. The criminal justice system treats those who have committed violent crimes as voluntary actors, despite studies that suggest there are connections between genes and the tendency to be violent. Harden discusses her own research linking DNA to behavior, concluding "we end up with correlations between genes and behavior that are just big enough to be unignorable but not nearly so large as to be deterministic." Elsewhere, she advocates for a compassionate approach to justice, pointing to research that demonstrates punishment doesn't reduce the chances a crime will occur. Filled with eloquent personal reflections and sharp philosophical critiques, this is a moving call to understand the nuances of wrongdoing and choice.
