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Can Darwinian Inheritance Be Extended from Biology to Epistemology?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Carla E. Kary
Carla E. Kary*
Affiliation:
The University of Illinois at Chicago Circle
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Extract

Despite continuing controversy over the detailed structure of the biological theory of evolution, and the scientific credentials of some of its central principles (see Goudge (1961), Peters (1976), Smart (1963), Williams (1970)), its striking success in explaining the development of living things has frequently inspired attempts to apply it beyond the biological domain (for example, Mach (1910) and White (1949)). Recently attempts have been made to explain the historical development of human concepts and ideas in terms of a Darwinian evolutionary theory. Various theories of “evolutionary epistemology” have been proposed by Stephen Toulmin (1972), Donald Campbell (1974), and Nicholas Rescher (1977), to name a few. In order to assess these theories adequately it would be useful to know in a general fashion under what circumstances and in what form’ a Darwinian evolutionary theory should be employed within non-biological domains.

Type
Part VIII. Levels of Explanation in Biology
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1982 , Issue 1: Volume One: Contributed Papers 1982 , 1982 , pp. 356 - 369
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1982

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