Razib Khan's Unsupervised Learning

Nathan Cofnas: Judaism's group evolutionary strategy and hereditarianism defended

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Jul 24, 2025
Nathan Cofnas, a philosopher specializing in biology and ethics at the University of Cambridge, dives into controversial theories on Judaism as a group evolutionary strategy, critiquing Kevin MacDonald's work and the academic reception it has received. He discusses the backlash he faced for his hereditarian views and the implications of discussing race and intelligence in today’s academia. Cofnas also navigates the complexities of Jewish identity and the persistent tensions between scientific inquiry and societal values.
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ANECDOTE

Fight Over Intelligence Research

  • Nathan Cofnas faced multiple petitions to fire him after publishing a paper defending the study of group differences in intelligence.
  • His paper's publication led to controversy, editorial resignations, and board replacements at the journal Philosophical Psychology.
ANECDOTE

Debate with Kevin MacDonald

  • Cofnas published critiques of Kevin MacDonald's theory about Judaism as a group evolutionary strategy, sparking online and academic backlash.
  • MacDonald and Cofnas engaged in published exchanges, with petitions to retract papers and editorial upheavals.
INSIGHT

Limits of Biological Group Selection

  • MacDonald's group evolutionary strategy relies on biologically genetically distinct groups competing, but human populations are genetically similar, making this model questionable.
  • Cultural group selection is more plausible for humans due to our capacity for high conformity and plasticity.
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