Draft:Evolutionary philosophy

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  • Comment: Most sections about "Evolutionary X" simply mention an author that wrote about the topic, and does not explain the most obvious thing they should explain, what is "Evolutionary X"? Cambalachero (talk) 18:24, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

Evolutionary Philosophy (EP) is a branch and tradition of philosophy grounded in and informed by evolutionary science. Evolutionary Philosophy examines the philosophical implications of evolutionary theory, tracing its origins to Charles Darwin's pivotal works, including On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871). This branch of philosophy delves into the intersections of evolutionary biology with various philosophical sub-domains, such as epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy, exploring how evolutionary principles shape our understanding of knowledge, morality, beauty, and societal structures.

The history of Evolutionary Philosophy extends from the 19th century with Darwin's transformative ideas, to contemporary developments like the the Modern and Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. The field has seen notable contributions from philosophers such as Daniel C. Dennett, whose Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (1995) reignited interest in evolutionary philosophy, and also evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson, who examines evolutionary ethics in his popular science and fiction works.

Evolutionary Philosophy is not without its controversies and debates. Many postmodernists and Continental Philosophers find Evolutionary Philosophy too scientifically oriented.[1] Moreover, the historical misapplication of Darwin's ideas, known as 'Social Spencerism',[2] illustrates the ethical complexities and potential misinterpretations within this discipline. Sub-domains of Evolutionary Philosophy include (but are not limited to) Evolutionary Epistemology, Evolutionary Logic, Evolutionary Metaphysics, Evolutionary Ethics, Evolutionary Aesthetics, Evolutionary Political Philosophy, Applied Evolutionary Epistemology, and Evolutionary Studies of the Arts.

The gradual evolution of knowledge from the domain of philosophy to empirical science demonstrates the evolutionary trajectory of understanding from abstract philosophical speculation, to concrete empirical scientific findings. Significant authors in Evolutionary Philosophy include Charles Darwin,[3] Sir Karl Popper, E.O. Wilson, Donald T. Campbell, Michael Bradie, and Daniel C. Dennett.

History of Evolutionary Philosophy[edit]

Evolutionary scientific theory (and thus also, Evolutionary Philosophy) is customarily dated to Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859)[4],The Descent of Man (1871),[5] and Darwin's many other works.[6]

Since 1859, evolutionary science subsequently underwent the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis, and is currently undergoing the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis.

`Social Spencerism' was a misapplication of Darwin's ideas resulting from Spencer's problematic ethics.[7] Evolutionary philosopher Daniel C. Dennett's best-selling book Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (1995)[8] created a resurgence of public and academic interest in Evolutionary Philosophy.

Sub-domains of Evolutionary Philosophy include (but are not limited to) Evolutionary Epistemology, Evolutionary Logic, Evolutionary Metaphysics, Evolutionary Ethics, Evolutionary Aesthetics, Evolutionary Political Philosophy, Applied Evolutionary Epistemology, and Evolutionary Studies of the Arts.

Evolutionary Epistemology[edit]

The term `Evolutionary Epistemology' dates to Donald T Campbell's 1974 essay Evolutionary Epistemology, in the 2-volume book The Philosophy of Karl Popper.[9] Evolutionary Epistemology (EE) is a naturalistic approach to epistemology, part of the philosophy of science. It subscribes to the idea that cognition is primarily a product of biological evolution.[10] Campbell's 1974 essay "Evolutionary Epistemology" develops a selectionist theory of human creativity.

Creativity science and genius scholar Dean Keith Simonton has contributed significantly to evolutionary epistemology.[11] He proposed a Darwinian model of the psychology of scientific discovery, refining Campbell's BVSR (blind variation and selective retention) model.[12]

Evolutionary Logic[edit]

Evolutionary Logic is a theory of rationality where logical law emerges as an intrinsic aspect of evolutionary biology. William S. Cooper, in his 2001 book The Evolution of Reason: Logic as a Branch of Biology, illustrates how logical rules are derived directly from evolutionary principles.[13]

Mental Immunity or Cognitive Immunology is the science of mental immunity, a mind's resistance to bad ideas, misinformation, and divisive ideologies.[14] Public philosopher Andy Norman, in his book Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think, explores how mental immune systems work, and how they can be built up.[15]

"Evolution as Computation" is a concept explored by John Mayfield in his 2013 book The Engine of Complexity: Evolution as Computation. He synthesizes core concepts from multiple disciplines to offer a new approach to understanding how evolution works, and how complex organisms, structures, organizations, and social orders can and do arise, based on information theory and computational science.[16]

Evolutionary Metaphysics[edit]

Evolutionary Metaphysics is a perspective that views metaphysical concepts through the lens of evolutionary biology. John Dupre, in his work published in Interface Focus (2017),[17] explores the implications of process metaphysics for conceptualizing evolution.

Evolutionary Ethics[edit]

Evolutionary Ethics examines the implications of evolutionary biology for ethical theories. Evolutionary philosopher Michael Bradie has made significant contributions to this field.[18]

David Sloan Wilson's (2019) nonfiction book This View of Life[19] and his satirical novel Atlas Hugged (2021)[20] both examine evolutionary ethics, exploring prosocial behavior (altruism) versus selfish behavior.

See also: Evolutionary Ethics

Evolutionary Aesthetics[edit]

Evolutionary Aesthetics is the study of art from a biological point of view. Science, arts and humanities scholars on evolutionary aesthetics include Edward O Wilson,[21] Dennis Dutton,[22] Joseph Carroll,[23] Brian Boyd,[24] Steven Pinker, Jonathan Gottschall,[25] Michelle Scalise Sugiyama, and Ellen Dissanayake.[26]

See also: Evolutionary Aesthetics

Evolutionary Political Philosophy[edit]

Evolutionary Political Philosophy applies the principles of evolution to the study of political systems. Karl Popper's (1945) book The Open Society and its Enemies presents an evolutionary approach to political philosophy,[27] as does David Sloan Wilson's (2019) book This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution.

The Handbook of Biology and Politics (2017)[28] examines biopolitics and the intersection of evolutionary biology and political science. The edited volume brings together research applying evolutionary and biological insights, to better understand political behaviors, institutions, ideologies and social dynamics.

Applied Evolutionary Epistemology[edit]

From 2012[29] to 2024 Nathalie Gontier was founder and director of AppEEL, the Applied Evolutionary Epistemology Lab,[30] an international group of scholars working in Applied Evolutionary Epistemology.

In the 2012 article, Applied Evolutionary Epistemology: A new methodology to enhance interdisciplinary research between the life and human sciences, Gontier explains how AEE's research program aims to identify: "the units, levels, and mechanisms of biological and sociocultural evolution".[31] The meta-meta-science of Evolutionary Culturology[32] is one solution to this problem.

A (2021) article by Gontier and Michael Bradie examines `Evolutionary Epistemology: Two research avenues, three schools, and a single and shared agenda'.[33]

In the domain of Applied Evolutionary Epistemology, in a 2016 PhD dissertation[34] on cultural evolution in the domain of cinema, in 2016,[35] 2017,[36] and 2020,[37] the Evolutionary Culturology scholar J T Velikovsky[38] of the Newcastle School of Creativity[39] published on the units, levels, evolutionary mechanisms (evolutionary algorithms), and three universal laws of both biology and culture.

On the meta-meta-scientific Evolutionary Culturology view, the scientific structure and function of the unit of culture (including entire domains in culture - and all of culture and biology) is the fractal HOLON/parton[40]; and is also the structure (and three laws) of the units in physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and all domains of knowledge (i.e., culture). As a universal set of (1) units, (2) scale-levels, (3) evolutionary algorithms (mechanisms of change), and (4) three scientific laws, the scientific meta-meta-paradigm of Evolutionary Culturology provides one solution to E O Wilson's (1998) goal of consilience, the unity (and vertical integration) of all knowledge.[41] The scientific meta-meta-paradigm of Evolutionary Culturology also has implications for Evolutionary Philosophy.[42]

Evolutionary Studies of the Arts[edit]

Evolutionary scholars of the arts include Joseph Carroll, Brian Boyd, Dennis Dutton, Steven Pinker, Jonathan Gottschall, Michelle Scalise Sugiyama, and Ellen Dissanayake, and authors of various biocultural Masters' and Ph.D studies.[43]

Creativity scientist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's evolutionary sociocultural Systems Model of Creativity[44] is an explicitly Darwinian evolutionary model of the variation, selection, and transmission of creative (new, useful, and surprising) units of culture, in all domains in culture.

See also: Darwinian literary studies

How Knowledge Evolves from Philosophy to Science over time[edit]

Over time, many inquiries that began in the realm of philosophy have transitioned into empirical science. This shift reflects a natural progression, as methodologies for investigation evolve and become more specialized. For instance, questions about human origins - once philosophical - are now addressed by biological evolution.

Similarly, the nature of matter, once a philosophical subject, now falls under the purview of physics and chemistry. Empirical sciences have provided answers to questions that were initially philosophical, demonstrating an evolutionary trajectory of knowledge from abstract philosophical speculation and debate to concrete scientific understanding.

How Knowledge Evolves from Philosophy to Science
Philosophical Question Empirical Scientific Answer Scientific Domain/s
What is the `essence' of matter? Atoms, molecules, and elementary particles Physics; Chemistry
How did the universe begin? The Big Bang Theory Cosmology; Astronomy
What is the nature of life? Cells and DNA Biology
How do we acquire knowledge? Cognitive neuroscience; Applied Evolutionary Epistemology Cognitive Science; Evolutionary Psychology
What governs the movement of celestial bodies? Gravitational forces Astronomy

Over time, specialized fields of scholars for domains in culture have emerged.

The Tree of Culture - with branches dated by Year of First International Conference for each discipline or domain in culture.

`The Evolutionary Tree of Culture' diagram from the meta-meta-science of Evolutionary Culturology shows the years of the First International Conferences for individual domains of knowledge, revealing when discrete fields of international scholars for the sciences and other disciplines have emerged from the domain of philosophy, over time.[45]

Significant works in Evolutionary Philosophy[edit]

  • Popper, K. R., & Schilpp, P. A. (1974). The Philosophy of Karl Popper (1st ed.). Open Court.
  • Smith, D. L. (Ed.). (2016). How Biology shapes Philosophy: New foundations for naturalism. Cambridge University Press.
  • Popper, K. R. (1978). Three Worlds. University of Utah.
  • Munz, Peter. (1993). Philosophical Darwinism: On the Origin of Knowledge by Means of Natural Selection. Routledge.
  • Sober, E. (1993). Philosophy of Biology. Westview Press.
  • Dennett, D. C. (1995). Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life. Simon & Schuster.
  • Hull, D. L., & Ruse, M. (1998). The Philosophy of Biology. Oxford University Press.
  • Ruse, M. (1998). Taking Darwin Seriously: A naturalistic approach to philosophy. Prometheus Books.
  • Popper, K. R. (1999). All Life is Problem Solving. Routledge.
  • Chaisson, E. (2001). Cosmic Evolution: The Rise of Complexity in Nature. Harvard University Press.
  • Hösle, V., & Illies, C. (Eds.). (2005). Darwinism & Philosophy. University of Notre Dame Press.
  • Gontier, N., Bendegam, J. P. v., & Aerts, D. (Eds.). (2006). Evolutionary Epistemology, Language and Culture: A Non-Adaptationist, Systems-Theoretical Approach. Springer.
  • Hull, D. L., & Ruse, M. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Biology. Cambridge University Press.
  • Wilson, D. S. (2007). Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's theory can change the way we think about our lives. Delacorte Press.
  • Rosenberg, A., & McShea, D. W. (2008). Philosophy of Biology: A contemporary introduction. Routledge.
  • Ruse, M. (2009). Philosophy after Darwin: Classic and contemporary readings. Princeton University Press.
  • Hodge, M. J. S., & Radick, G. (2009). The Cambridge Companion to Darwin (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Rosenberg, A., & Arp, R. (2010). Philosophy of Biology: An Anthology. Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Dutton, D. (2010). The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution. Oxford University Press.
  • Boyd, B., Carroll, J., & Gottschall, J. (2010). `Evolution, Literature, and Film: A Reader. Columbia University Press.
  • Kuhse, H., Schüklenk, U., & Singer, P. (2015). Bioethics: An Anthology (Third ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
  • Carroll, J., McAdams, D. P., & Wilson, E. O. (Eds.). (2016). Darwin's Bridge: Uniting the Humanities and Sciences. Oxford University Press.
  • Dennett, D. C. (2017). From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds (First Edition. ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.
  • Norman, A. (2021). Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. Harper Wave.
  • Wilson, D. S. (2019). This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution (First ed.). Pantheon.
  • Lovelock, J. (2019). Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence. Penguin.
  • Tegmark, M. (2017). Life 3.0: Being human in the age of artificial intelligence (First ed.). Allen Lane.

External links[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Evolution (change in units, over time) occurs within systems (ecosystems) whether they be biological, cultural, or bio-cultural. For this reason Systems Philosophy and Systems Systems Science frequently underpins Evolutionary Philosophy.[46]

  • Laszlo, E. (1972). Introduction to Systems Philosophy: Toward a New Paradigm of Contemporary Thought. Gordon and Breach.
  • Bertalanffy, Ludwig von. (1968) General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications. G. Braziller.
  • Metcalf, G. S., Kijima, K., Deguchi, H., (eds). (2020). Handbook of Systems Sciences. Springer.
  • Capra, F., and Luisi, P. L., (2014). The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision. Cambridge University Press.

Unsolved problems in Evolutionary Philosophy[edit]

See: List of Unsolved Problems in Philosophy

References[edit]

  1. ^ Carroll, Joseph (2008). "Vol. 42, No. 2-3, Summer 2008 Issue of Style journal on JSTOR". Style. 42 (2–3): 103–409. JSTOR 10.5325/style.42.issue-2-3.
  2. ^ Burry, John N. (1989). "Social Spencerism Not Social Darwinism". Medicine and War. 5 (3): 148–150. doi:10.1080/07488008908408866. JSTOR 45353052. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. ^ Pence, Charles. "Darwin, Charles | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  4. ^ Darwin, Charles (1859). On the Origin of Species (1st ed.). London: John Murray.
  5. ^ Darwin, Charles (1871). The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. London: D. Appleton and Co.
  6. ^ van Wyhe, John. "The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online". Darwin Online. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  7. ^ Wilson, David Sloan (2019). This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution (1st ed.). Pantheon.
  8. ^ Dennett, Daniel (1995). Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life. Simon & Shuster.
  9. ^ Schilpp, P. A. (1974). The Philosophy of Karl Popper (1st ed.). La Salle. pp. 413–459.
  10. ^ Gontier, Nathalie. "Evolutionary Epistemology | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  11. ^ Simonton, Dean Keith. "Staff page". University of California, Davis.
  12. ^ Simonton, Dean Keith (3 July 2023). "The Blind-Variation and Selective-Retention Theory of Creativity: Recent Developments and Current Status of BVSR". Creativity Research Journal. 35 (3): 304–323. doi:10.1080/10400419.2022.2059919.
  13. ^ Cooper, William S. (2001). The Evolution of Reason: Logic as a branch of biology. Cambridge University Press.
  14. ^ Norman, Andy. "What Is Cognitive Immunology? | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  15. ^ Norman, Andy (2021). Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. Harper Wave.
  16. ^ Mayfield, J. E. (2013). The Engine of Complexity: Evolution as Computation. Columbia University Press.
  17. ^ Dupré, John (6 October 2017). "The metaphysics of evolution". Interface Focus. 7 (5). doi:10.1098/rsfs.2016.0148. PMC 5566809. PMID 28839921.
  18. ^ Bradie, Michael (1994). The Secret Chain: Evolution and Ethics. State University of New York Press.
  19. ^ Wilson, David Sloan (2019). This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution. Pantheon.
  20. ^ Wilson, David Sloan (2020). Atlas Hugged. Redwood Publishing, LLC.
  21. ^ Wilson, Edward O. (1998). Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1st ed.). Knopf: Distributed by Random House.
  22. ^ Dutton, Dennis (2010). The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution. Oxford University Press.
  23. ^ Carroll, Joseph (1995). Evolution and Literary Theory. University of Missouri Press.
  24. ^ Boyd, Brian (2009). On The Origin Of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  25. ^ Gottschall, Jonathan (2012). The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  26. ^ Dissanayake, Ellen (2000). Art and Intimacy: How the Arts Began. University of Washington Press.
  27. ^ Popper, Karl (1945). The Open Society and its Enemies. G. Routledge & Sons.
  28. ^ Peterson, S (2017). Handbook of Biology and Politics. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
  29. ^ Gontier, Nathalie. "AppEEL - Applied Evolutionary Epistemology Lab | Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa". ciencias.ulisboa.pt. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  30. ^ https://sites.google.com/view/appeel/home
  31. ^ Gontier, Nathalie (2012). "Applied Evolutionary Epistemology: A new methodology to enhance interdisciplinary research between the life and human sciences". Journal of Philosophy and Science (Kairos. Revista de Filosofia & Ciência). 4: 35.
  32. ^ Velikovsky, J. T. (2023). Elements of Evolutionary Culturology. Amazon. ISBN 979-8-3858-4989-5.
  33. ^ Gontier, Nathalie; Bradie, Michael (June 2021). "Evolutionary Epistemology: Two Research Avenues, Three Schools, and A Single and Shared Agenda". Journal for General Philosophy of Science. 52 (2): 197–209. doi:10.1007/s10838-021-09563-5. S2CID 236373484.
  34. ^ Velikovsky, J. T. (2016). Communication, Creativity and Consilience in Cinema (PhD Dissertation) (Thesis). Newcastle, Australia: University of Newcastle, Australia.
  35. ^ Velikovsky, J. T. (2016). The HOLON/parton Theory of the Unit of Culture (or the Meme, and Narreme): In Science, Media, Entertainment and the Arts (in: Creative Technologies for Multidisciplinary Applications). IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-0016-2.ch009.
  36. ^ Velikovsky, J. T. (2017). The HOLON/parton Structure of the Meme, or, The Unit of Culture (in: Encyclopedia of Information Science & Technology)). IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-2255-3.ch405.
  37. ^ Velikovsky, J. T. (2020). Technology: Memes (Units of Culture) (in: The Encyclopedia of Creativity). Elsevier, Academic Press. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.23862-5. S2CID 212906788.
  38. ^ Velikovsky, JT. "ORCID". orcid.org. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  39. ^ Velikovsky, J. T. (7 June 2020). "StoryAlity#166 – The Newcastle School of Creativity". The Ev Cult StoryAlity weblog. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  40. ^ Velikovsky, J. T.; Velikovsky, J. T. (1 January 2017). "The HOLON/parton Structure of The Unit of Culture". IGI Global. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  41. ^ Wilson, E. O. (1998). Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1st ed.). Knopf: Distributed by Random House.
  42. ^ Velikovsky, J.T. "Evolutionary Philosophy Implications of Evolutionary Culturology". Evolutionary Culturology. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  43. ^ Velikovsky, J. T. (11 December 2013). "List of 120 Biocultural Dissertations". The Ev Cult StoryAlity weblog. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  44. ^ Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (2015). The Systems Model of Creativity: The Collected Works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Springer.
  45. ^ Velikovsky, J. T. (2023). Elements of Evolutionary Culturology. Amazon. p. 150. ISBN 979-8-3858-4989-5.
  46. ^ Gontier, Nathalie; Bendegam, J. P. v.; Aerts, D. (2006). Evolutionary Epistemology, Language and Culture: A Non-Adaptationist, Systems-Theoretical Approach. Springer.
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