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DIVERSITY DEBATES AT UNIVERSITY OF
TORONTO
(The Bulletin, University of Toronto)
Both Points Misstated
John
Furedy
Department of
Psychology
July 26, 2004
Professor
Vassos
Hadzilacos (Case Resorts to Sophistries, June 28) is clearly offended
by my
recent criticism of the administration’s equity policies (Academic
Merit
Undervalued, May 31). However he has
misstated both of my points with which he takes issue.
First, I indeed did refer to a “significant
biological basis” in the determination of observed behavioural sex
differences
but immediately and necessarily qualified this with the point that
“undoubtedly
societal factors also contribute.”
This
qualification
is essential since it differentiates my position that heredity,
environment and
their interactions all play a (complex) causal role from the reductive
ideology
of biological determinism that views behaviour as being totally
determined by
biology (an ideology I reject entirely).
Second, It is
not
the case that the evidence I had cited found merely that tenure-stream
ads in
the hard sciences used “stronger” language than those in other
disciplines. Rather, the results
indicated a difference in merit, but not equity, requirements between
the hard
science departments and other sorts of departments.
For
further details I refer
Professor Hadzilacos to http://safs/january2003/advertisment.html
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