Evolutionary Epistemology and Its Implications for Humankind

Evolutionary Epistemology and Its Implications for Humankind......Page 2
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 8
Prospectus: Approaching an Evolutionary Theory of Knowledge......Page 11
The Biological Theory of Evolution......Page 19
The Theory of Natural Selection......Page 22
Charles Darwin and Beyond......Page 31
The Systems-Theoretical Approach to Evolution......Page 33
Human Evolution: Some Facts and Figures......Page 35
The Wider Domain of Evolutionary Theory: Mind and Culture......Page 39
Evolutionary Epistemology: A Consequence of Evolutionary Theory......Page 41
Spencer's Development Hypothesis......Page 44
Darwin's Evolutionary Psychology......Page 47
Other Predecessors......Page 49
Kant's Doctrine of the A Priori in a Biological Perspective......Page 52
Popper's Evolutionary View......Page 54
Epistemology Naturalized......Page 56
Organisms as Information-Processing Systems......Page 62
Cognition, Fitness, and Survival......Page 65
The Evolution of Nervous Systems......Page 67
The Ratiomorphic Apparatus......Page 71
Experience and Expectation......Page 75
Evolution as a Belief-Gaining Process......Page 78
Is the Eye Attuned to the Sun?......Page 81
Why Animals Are Realists......Page 84
Innate "Teaching Mechanisms"......Page 87
The "Hypotheses" of the Ratiomorphic Apparatus......Page 91
Facing a World of "Medium Dimensions"......Page 97
The Necessity of a Systems-Theoretical Approach......Page 101
A Nonadaptationist View of the Evolution of Cognition......Page 104
5 The Evolution of Human Knowledge......Page 110
Transgressing the World of Medium Dimensions......Page 112
The Emergence of Rational Knowledge......Page 113
The Meaning of Language......Page 121
Evolutionary Origins of Metaphysical Belief......Page 124
Biological Constraints in the Evolution of Knowledge......Page 127
Cultural Constraints in the Evolution of Knowledge......Page 130
Culture: A Break with Organic Evolution?......Page 136
Organic and Cultural Evolution: Striking Differences......Page 140
Organic and Cultural Evolution: Intimate Connections......Page 142
A Case of Sociobiology?......Page 146
The Fallacy of Genetic Determinism......Page 149
A Nonreductionist View of Culture and Cultural Evolution......Page 153
Two Levels of Evolutionary Epistemology......Page 158
Evolution and Science: Analogies and Metaphors......Page 163
Popper Retried......Page 168
Evolution of Science as an Information Process......Page 172
Evolutionary Epistemology and the Idea of Scientific Progress......Page 179
Limits to Scientific Knowledge?......Page 182
8 The Challenge to Philosophy......Page 186
A New Copernican Revolution?......Page 187
Evolutionary Epistemology and Transcendental Philosophy......Page 188
Cogito, ergo sum—Sum, ergo cogito......Page 190
Beyond Rationalism and Empiricism......Page 191
A New Realism......Page 193
Evolutionary Epistemology and the Notion of Truth......Page 197
Mind and Body: Against Dualism......Page 199
The Decline of Metaphysics......Page 203
Evolutionary Epistemology and Ethics......Page 205
Epilogue:  Toward a New Image of Humankind......Page 210
1. Taking Evolution Seriously......Page 217
6. Evolutionary Epistemology and Culture......Page 218
8. The Challenge to Philosophy......Page 219
Glossary......Page 220
Bibliography......Page 232
D......Page 258
L......Page 259
R......Page 260
D......Page 261
H......Page 262
P......Page 263
W......Page 264