Abstract
What credentials does evolutionary epistemology have as science? A judgement based on past performance, both in terms of advancing an empirical programme and further ng theory construction, is not much. This paper briefly outlines some of the research areas, both theoretical and empirical, that can be developed and that might secure for evolutionary epistemology a future in evolutionary biology.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arnold, A. J. and Fistrup, K.: 1982, ‘The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection: A Hierarchical Extension,’Paleobiology 8, 113–129.
Baptista, L. S. and Petrinovich, L.: 1986, ‘Song Development in the White Crowned Sparrow: Social Factors and Sex Differences,’Animal Behaviour 34, 1359–1371.
Bennett, P. M. and Harvey, P. H.: 1985, ‘Relative Brain Size and Ecology in Birds,’Journal of Zoology 207, 151–169.
Bock, W. J.: 1980, ‘The Definition and Recognition of Biological Adaptation,’American Zoologist 20, 217–227.
Boyd, R. and Richerson, P. J.: 1985,Culture and the Evolutionary Process, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Bradie, M.: 1986, ‘Assessing Evolutionary Epistemology,’Biology and Philosophy 1, 401–459.
Burnet, F. M.: 1959,The Clonal Selection Theory of Acquired Immunity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Campbell, D. T.: 1974, ‘Evolutionary Epistemology,’in P. A. Schilpp (ed.),The Philosophy of Karl Popper 1, Open Court, La Salle Ill., pp. 413–463.
Campbell, D. T., Heyes, C. M., and Callebaut, W. G.: 1987, ‘Evolutionary Epistemology Bibliography,’ in W. Callebaut and R. Pinxten (eds.),Evolutionary Epistemology: A Multiparadigm Program, Reidel, Dordrecht.
Cavali-Sforza, L. L. and Feldman, M. W.: 1981,Cultural Transmission and Evolution, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Changeux, J-P. and Danchin, A.: 1976, ‘Selective Stabilization of Developing Synapses as a Mechanism for the Specification of Neuronal Networks,’Nature 264, 705–712.
Dawkins, R.: 1982,The Extended Phenotype, Freeman, San Francisco.
De Mey, M.: 1982,The Cognitive Paradigm, Reidel, Dordrecht.
Dennett, D. C.: 1984,Elbow Room, MIT Press, Cambridge Mass.
Edelman, G. M. and Reeke, G. N.: 1982, ‘Selestive Networks Capable of representing Transformations, Limited Generalizations and Associative Memory,’Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 79, 2091–2095.
Eldredge, N. and Salthe, S. N.: 1985, ‘Hierarchy and Evolution,’Oxford Surveys in Evolutionary Biology 1, 184–208.
Harley, C. B.: 1981, ‘Learning the Evolutionary Stable Strategy,’Journal of Theoretical Biology 89, 611–633.
Heyes, C. M.: 1984,Conspecific Learning in the Syrian Hamster, Doctoral Thesis, University of London.
Hilgard, E. R. and Bower, G. H.: 1975,Theories of Learning, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs N.J.
Hull D. L.: 1982, ‘The Naked Meme’, in Plotkin, H. C. (ed.),Learning Development and Culture: Essays in Evolutionary Epistemology, Wiley, Chichester, pp. 273–327.
Hull, D. L.: 1987 ‘Interactors Versus Vehicles,’ in Plotkin, H. C. (ed.),The Role of Behavior in Evolution, in Preparation.
Jerison, H. J.: 1973,Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence, Academic Press, London.
Jerison, H. J.: 1986, ‘Issues in Brain Evolution,’Oxford Surveys in Evolutionary Biology 2, 102–134.
Jerne, N. K.: 1985, ‘The Generative Grammar of the Immune System,’Science 229, 1057–1059.
Krebs, J. R. and Davies, N. B.: 1984,Behavioural Ecology, Blackwell, Oxford.
Larson, A., Prager, E. M., and Wilson, A.C.: 1984, ‘Chromosomal Evolution, Speciation and Morphological Change in Vertebrates: The Role of Social Behaviour,’Chromosomes Today 8, 215–227.
Lumsden, C. J. and Wilson, E. O.: 1981,Genes, Mind and Culture, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass.
Mackintosh, N. J.: 1974,The Psychology of Animal Learning, Academic Press, London.
Mackintosh, N. J.: 1983,Conditioning and Associative Learning, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Martin, R. D.: 1981, ‘Relative Brain Size and Basal Metabolic Rate in Terrestrial Vertebrates,’Nature 293, 57–60.
maynard Smith, J.: 1982,Evolution and the Theory of Games, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Mayr, E.: 1963,Animal Species and Evolution, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass.
Mayr, E.: 1982,The Growth of Biological Thought, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass.
Piaget, J.: 1971,Biology and Knowledge, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Plotkin, H. C. (ed.): 1982,Learning, Development and Culture: Essays in Evolutionary Epistemology, Wiley, Chichester.
Plotkin, H. C.: 1987a, ‘The Evolutionary Analogy in Skinner's Writing,’ in Modgil, S. and Modgil, C. (eds.),B. F. Skinner: Consensus and Controversy, Falmer Press, Brighton, pp. 139–153.
Plotkin, H. C.: 1987b, ‘Evolutionary Epistemology and the Synthesis of Biological and Social Science,’ in Callebaut, W. and Pinxten, R. (eds.),Evolutionary Epistemology: A Multiparadigm Approach, Reidel, Dordrecht.
Plotkin, H. C.: 1987c, ‘An Evolutionary Epistemological Approach to the Evolution of Intelligence,’ in Jerison, H. J. (ed.),The Evolutionary Biology of Intelligence, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg.
Plotkin, H. C.: 1987d, ‘Learning and Evolution,’ in Plotkin, H. C. (ed.),The Role of Behaviour in Evolution, in preparation.
Plotkin, H. C. and Odling-Smee, F. J.: 1979, ‘Learning, Change and Evolution,’Advances in the Study of Behaviour 10, 1–41.
Plotkin, H. C. and Odling-Smee, F. J.: 1981, ‘A Multiple Level Model of Evolution and Its Implications for Sociobiology,’The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 4, 225–268.
Popper, K. R.: 1984, ‘Evolutionary Epistemology,’ in Pollard, J. W. (ed.),Evolutionary Theory: Paths into the Future, Wiley, Chichester, pp. 239–255.
Price, D. J. and Blakemore, C.: 1985, ‘Regressive Events in the Postnatal Development of Association Projections in the Visual Cortex,’Nature 316, 721–723.
Reeke, G. N. and Edelman, G. M.: 1984, ‘Selective Networks and Recognition Automata,’Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 181–201.
Richelle, M. N.: 1987, ‘Variation and Selection: The Evolutionary Analogy in Skinner's Theory,’ in Modgil, S. and Modgil, C. (eds.),B. F. Skinner; Consensus and Controversy, Falmer Press, Brighton, pp. 123–138.
Riedl, R.: 1978,Order in Living Organisms, Wiley, New York.
Ruse, M.: 1986,Taking Darwin Seriously, Blackwell, Oxford.
Sage, R. D., Loiselle, P. V., Basasibwaki, P., and Wilson, A. C.: 1984, ‘Molecular Versus Morphological Change Among Cichlid Fishes of Lake Victoria,’ in Echelle, A. A. and Kornfield, I. (eds),Evolution of Fish Species Flocks, University of Maine at Orono Press, Orono, pp. 185–201.
Sommerhoff, G.: 1950,Analytical Biology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Salthe, S. N.: 1985,Evolving Hierarchical Systems, Columbia University Press, New York.
Staddon, J. E. R.: 1983,Adaptive Behavior and Learning, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Thomson, K. S.: 1986, ‘The Relationship Between Development and Evolution,’Oxford Surveys in Evolutionary Biology 2, 220–233.
Vrba, E. S. and Gould, S. J.: 1986, ‘The Hierarchical Expansion of Sorting and Selection: Sorting and Selection Cannot be Equated,’Paleobiology 12, 217–228.
Waddington, C. H.: 1969, ‘Paradigm for an Evolutionary Process,’ in Waddington, C. H. (.),Towards a Theoretical Biology Vol. 2, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp. 106–124.
Waddington, C. H.: 1975,The Evolution of an Evolutionist, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Williams, G. C.; 1982, ‘A Comment on Genetic Assimilation,’ in Plotkin, H. C. (ed.),Learning Development and Culture: Essays in Evolutionary Epistemology, Wiley, Chichester pp. 195–203.
Williams, G. C.: 1986, ‘A Defence of Reductionism in Evolutionary Biology,’Oxford Surveys in Evolutionary Biology 2, 1–27.
Wyles, J. S., Kunkel, J. G., and Wilson, A. C.: 1983, ‘Birds, Behavior, and Anatomical Evolution,’Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 80, 4394–4397.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Plotkin, H.C. Evolutionary epistemology as science. Biol Philos 2, 295–313 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00128835
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00128835