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. |
З цієї книги
Результати 1-5 із 43
... offered a methodological critique of evolutionary psychology from a psychological perspective . I'm largely sympathetic with that critique . I don't defend its details , but I think the invitation to a more reflective methodology is ...
... offered some inci- sive critical commentary, particularly on the interpretation of the key idea of heritability. I think that I have incorporated many of their insights. I have cer- tainly benefited from them, though of course that does ...
... offered us a striking array of evidence concerning sexual preferences (see, e.g., Symons 1979, 1992). The basic picture is easy to understand. Human males are more attracted to youth- ful women. Human females are more attracted to high ...
... offered a comparable claim concerning the evolution of male and female pref- erences in birds, we would expect to see evidence relevant to the differences in preference and not merely to overall or average preferences. Evolution pro ...
... offered to our ancestors. The evidence Symons would have us appeal to is simply silent on such matters. It is equally silent on what would cause any supposed differences in fitness. What I think we should demand of evolutionary ...
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 |
Інші видання - Показати все
Evolutionary Psychology as Maladapted Psychology Robert C. Richardson Попередній перегляд недоступний - 2010 |