Evolutionary Psychology as Maladapted PsychologyMIT Press, 22 січ. 2010 р. - 232 стор. A philosopher subjects the claims of evolutionary psychology to the evidential and methodological requirements of evolutionary biology, concluding that evolutionary psychology's explanations amount to speculation disguised as results. Human beings, like other organisms, are the products of evolution. Like other organisms, we exhibit traits that are the product of natural selection. Our psychological capacities are evolved traits as much as are our gait and posture. This much few would dispute. Evolutionary psychology goes further than this, claiming that our psychological traits—including a wide variety of traits, from mate preference and jealousy to language and reason—can be understood as specific adaptations to ancestral Pleistocene conditions. In Evolutionary Psychology as Maladapted Psychology, Robert Richardson takes a critical look at evolutionary psychology by subjecting its ambitious and controversial claims to the same sorts of methodological and evidential constraints that are broadly accepted within evolutionary biology. The claims of evolutionary psychology may pass muster as psychology; but what are their evolutionary credentials? Richardson considers three ways adaptive hypotheses can be evaluated, using examples from the biological literature to illustrate what sorts of evidence and methodology would be necessary to establish specific evolutionary and adaptive explanations of human psychological traits. He shows that existing explanations within evolutionary psychology fall woefully short of accepted biological standards. The theories offered by evolutionary psychologists may identify traits that are, or were, beneficial to humans. But gauged by biological standards, there is inadequate evidence: evolutionary psychologists are largely silent on the evolutionary evidence relevant to assessing their claims, including such matters as variation in ancestral populations, heritability, and the advantage offered to our ancestors. As evolutionary claims they are unsubstantiated. Evolutionary psychology, Richardson concludes, may offer a program of research, but it lacks the kind of evidence that is generally expected within evolutionary biology. It is speculation rather than sound science—and we should treat its claims with skepticism. |
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... consequence, I was invited to give talks on evo- lutionary psychology at a number of universities and societies over this period. Since I did not want to do the same thing over and over, I began to branch out, though working within the ...
... consequences tail feathers might have for survival, so too Darwin thought many of our mental characteristics were favored for their tendency to enhance our reproductive potential. This was what led Darwin to his admis- sion, in chapter ...
... consequence of evolutionary prin- ciples. Those who are better adapted to their social environment are those who experience more enjoyment; and conversely, the activities demanded by social life would come to be natural sources of ...
... consequences. A female with a high-status mate will likely have offspring that have the enhanced reproductive potential that supposedly accompanies high status. Matt Ridley (1993, 118) captures the view: Wherever you look, from tribal ...
... consequence of evolution by natural selec- tion . Evolutionary psychologists are enthusiastic in endorsing the connection . Pinker embraces the line , saying " Natural selection has a special place in science because it alone explains ...
Зміст
1 | |
13 | |
2 Reverse Engineering and Adaptation | 41 |
3 The Dynamics of Adaptation | 89 |
4 Recovering Evolutionary History | 141 |
5 Idle Darwinizing | 173 |
Notes | 185 |
References | 193 |
Index | 209 |
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Evolutionary Psychology as Maladapted Psychology Robert C. Richardson Попередній перегляд недоступний - 2010 |