The Routledge Handbook of Evolution and PhilosophyRichard Joyce In recent years, the relation between contemporary academic philosophy and evolutionary theory has become ever more active, multifaceted, and productive. The connection is a bustling two-way street. In one direction, philosophers of biology make significant contributions to theoretical discussions about the nature of evolution (such as "What is a species?"; "What is reproductive fitness?"; "Does selection operate primarily on genes?"; and "What is an evolutionary function?"). In the other direction, a broader group of philosophers appeal to Darwinian selection in an attempt to illuminate traditional philosophical puzzles (such as "How could a brain-state have representational content?"; "Are moral judgments justified?"; "Why do we enjoy fiction?"; and "Are humans invariably selfish?"). In grappling with these questions, this interdisciplinary collection includes cutting-edge examples from both directions of traffic. The thirty contributions, written exclusively for this volume, are divided into six sections: The Nature of Selection; Evolution and Information; Human Nature; Evolution and Mind; Evolution and Ethics; and Evolution, Aesthetics, and Art. Many of the contributing philosophers and psychologists are international leaders in their fields. |
Contents
A Clash of Perspectives | |
Fitness Maximization | |
Does Biology Need Teleology? | |
An Overview | |
The Construction of Learned Information through Selection Processes | |
Genetic Epigenetic and Exogenetic Information | |
Routes to the Convergent Evolution of Cognition | |
Is Consciousness an Adaptation? | |
Plasticity and Modularity | |
Can Biological Functions Fix Mental Content? | |
An Overview | |
The Evolution of Moral Intuitions and Their Feeling of Rightness | |
Are We Losing It? Darwins Moral Sense and the Importance of Early Experience | |
The Evolution of Morality and the Prospects for Moral Realism | |
From HowPossibly to HowProbably? | |
The Applied Evolutionary | |
An Overview | |
Real Phenomena Not Theoretical Objects | |
Modern Essentialism for Species and Its Animadversions | |
What Is Human Nature If It Is Anything at All? | |
An Epistemic Defense of the NatureCulture Divide | |
An Overview | |