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Biohistory is a relatively new school of historiography although its development can be found in the late nineteenth century. Biohistory is defined, according to biohistorian Stephen Boyden, as a "coherent system of knowledge, or field of study, which reflects the broad sequence of happenings in the history of the biosphere and of civilization, from the beginning of life to the present day."〔Boyden, Stephen Vickers. Biohistory: The Interplay Between Human Society and the Biosphere. (New Jersey: Parthenon Publishing Group Inc., 1992), 3.〕 For the historians who study under this school, one of the main principles is the understanding the relationship of the biosphere, the total collection of Earth’s ecosystems combined and various human elements, including cultural adaptations and the impact of biological forces on society. One of the things that make biohistory unique is that the "starting point is the history of life on Earth, and the basic principles and facts of evolution, genetic inheritance, ecology, and physiology. Next, it turns to consider the evolutionary background, biology and innate sensitivities of the human species, and the emergence in evolution of the human aptitude for culture."〔Boyden, Stephen Vickers. Biohistory: The Interplay Between Human Society and the Biosphere. New Jersey: Parthenon Publishing Group Inc., 1992, 3.〕 Biohistory emerged from several different schools and disciplines including the Annales school, environmental history, human geography, and sociobiology as well as Darwinian Theory.〔Paulson, Eric. “Biohistory.” The Occidental Quarterly. Published: May 26, 2010. Accessed: April 3, 2011. http://www.toqonline.com/blog/biohistory/〕 However, there are biohistorians who work towards eliminating affiliation with Darwinian Theory, especially Social Darwinism, in order to reduce critiques of biological determinism. A similar concept to biohistory, evolutionary biology is different because it only takes into account the scientific aspects of phenomena and not the historical implications. As of 2010, the American Historical Association (AHA) has not accepted biohistory as a legitimate historiographical school of study, though there are academic scholars who study under it.〔 However, for over one hundred years, there have been statements given that suggest an eventual acceptance of the main tenets of biohistory as a basis for future historical research and scholarship. The term biohistory has contested origins because many scholars who write on the topic claim to have coined it. == Biohistory as a Field of Study == There are scholars within the field of history that say the current study of history does not fully take into account the scope of human history, but “omits the events and effects of the longest period of human existence.”〔McElvaine, Robert S, “The Relevance of Biohistory”, The Chronicle Review. 49: 8, October 18, 2002.〕 The “longest period” referring to the large quantity of time that humans (Homo Sapiens) spent adapting and evolving to their environment. Robert S. McElvaine (January 24, 1947- ) argues that the study of history should take into account “the evolution of the particular sort of animals we are.”〔 History combined with “evolutionary biology could provide historians with a means of assessing how changes over long periods of prehistory affect the times we study.”〔 In 1991, Carl N. Degler (February 6, 1921- ) noted that, as of that time, social scientists in various fields including sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and political scientists had begun to accept the notion that biology, as it describes innate human proclivities, plays an important role in study, but he could not point to any historian that necessarily accepted this notion.〔 Many of the scholars that have influenced biohistory are scientists by nature. Aside from the above list of professionals, geographers, sociobiologists, microbiologists, pathologists, and others have contributed. Human proclivities or the natural tendencies to behave in a certain manners commonly referred to as human nature, which historians can study, include the ability to adapt into small bands of hunter-gatherers.〔 One of the many benefits of studying biohistory is the increased ability for historians and scientists to conduct “collaborative research projects, which offer the potential for unusual analytical perspectives as well as new evolutionary sources” as stated by Nancy Buenger, an American history scholar.〔Brueger, Nancy “Connective Tissues: Ethical Guidelines for Biohistorical Research, Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, Vol. 43: No.3, (2004), 235.〕 Some scholars promote the idea that using biology as a method to history should not only study what features, values, and predispositions of the human condition were favorable in the environment, but also “how those predispositions interacted with the various cultural and historical environments in which humans have lived.”〔 In the study of biohistory, McElvaine states that biology is a useful tool for history and that both can be utilized to gain a broader perspective of history.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Biohistory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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