METAPHYSICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL NATURALISM IN DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
In this paper we deal with a lasting debate between supporters and opponents of evolutionary psychology, that is, we will try to summarize the main arguments of both sides, to obtain certain philosophical and methodological conclusions about its pros and cons. In addition to considering internal arguments and discussions within psychology itself, our goal is to consider the problem of an evolutionary approach to the scientific understanding of the development of the human psyche from the standpoint of metaphysical and methodological naturalism. Metaphysical naturalism would imply the existence of immutable and lasting natural truths available to us through the scientific method, while the approach of methodological naturalism would not commit to the metaphysical necessity of the truth of naturalism itself, but would adopt it as a hypothesis. The essential part of the debate about the value of evolutionary psychology is based on whether the psychological adaptations are treated as something that is generally completed and determined ("brain from the Stone Age") and needs to understand the situation of the new environment, or as something that is constantly evolving and in the process of adapting to cultural rather than strictly biological factors. In this light, the question arises about the philosophical-methodological foundations of such scientific approaches within psychology.
Article Details
References
Abramson, A., „Our brains are stuck in the Stone Age: How ‘evolutionary mismatch’ affects our weight, behavior, and overall health“, Elemental. 2020, February 25, https://elemental.medium.com/our-brains-are-stuck-in-the-stone-age-13bb5d2aea36
Bolhuis, J. J., Brown, G. R., Richardson, R. C., & Laland, K. N., „Darwin in mind: New opportunities for evolutionary psychology“, PloS Biology, Vol. 9, No. 7 (2011), str. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001109
Buller, D. J., Adapting minds: Evolutionary psychology and the persistent quest for human nature, The MIT Press, Cambridge (Mass., USA) 2005.
Buller, D. J., „Four fallacies of pop evolutionary psychology“, Scientific American, Vol. 22, No. 1s (2012), str. 44–51.
Confer, J. C., Easton, J. A., Fleischman, D. S., Goetz, C. D., Lewis, D. M. G., Perilloux, C., & Buss, D. M., „Evolutionary psychology: Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations“, American Psychologist, Vol. 65, No. 2 (2010), str. 110–126. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018413
Cosmides, L. & Tooby, J., Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer. Center for Evolutionary Psychology, University of Santa Barbara, 1997, https://www.cep.ucsb.edu/primer.html
Darwin, Ch., On the origin of species, Oxford, Oxford University Press 2008.
Gannon, L., „A critique of evolutionary psychology“, Psychology, Evolution & Gender, Vol. 4, No. 2 (2002), str. 173–218. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461666031000063665
Hagen, E. H., „Controversial issues in evolutionary psychology“, u The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (priredio David Buss), Wiley, Hoboken (NJ, USA), str. 145-174.
Harmon, K., „Fast-evolving brains helped humans out of the Stone Age“, Scientific American, 2011, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evolutionary-psychology-brain-changes/
Henrich, J., The WEIRDest people in the world: How the West became psychologically peculiar and particulary prosperous. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York 2020. [E-book]
Honda, K., „A critique of evolutionary psychology“, Psychology in Seattle, 2014. https://www.psychologyinseattle.com/a-critique-of-evolutionary-psychology
Lloyd, E. A., „Evolutionary psychology: The burdens of proof“, Biology and Philosophy, Vol. 14 (1999), str. 211–233.
Marks, J., „Evolutionary psychology is neither“, This View Of Life, 2015, https://thisviewoflife.com/evolutionary-psychology-is-neither/
Minkel, J. R., „Psyching out evolutionary psychology: Interview with David J. Buller“, Scientific American, 2005.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/psyching-out-evolutionary/
Prum, R. O. & Brush, A. H., „The Evolutionary Origin and Diversification of Feathers“. Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 77 (2002), str. 261–295.
Richardson, R. C., Evolutionary Psychology as Maladapted Psychology, The MIT Press, Cambridge (Mass., USA) 2007.
Saad, G., „Applying evolutionary psychology in understanding the Darwinian roots of consumption phenomena“, Managerial and Decision Economics, Vol. 27 (2006), str. 189–201. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.1292
Sober, E., Philosophy of Biology, Vestview Press, Boulder (Co., USA) 2000.
Smith, S. E. (2020). „Is evolutionary psychology possible?“. Biological Theory, Vol. 15, No. 1 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-019-00336-4