scholarly journals The rhetorical use of B. F. Skinner in evolutionary psychology

2021 ◽  
pp. 095935432110303
Author(s):  
Timothy P. Racine

This article examines Skinner’s often neglected ideas about evolution, which he returns to in his final academic paper. I attempt to square Skinner’s advocacy for evolutionary explanation, including his efforts to reconcile biological, individual, and cultural adaptation, with how he is framed and critiqued by a school of evolutionary psychologists who attribute to Skinner a blank slate, or so-called standard social science model, view of the mind. I argue that characterizing Skinner in this manner is inconsistent with his evolutionary writings and ignores Skinner’s explicit disavowals of such interpretations. I then discuss Skinner’s evolutionary views in light of contemporary evolutionary theories of human psychology. I also compare the reception to evolutionary psychology and Skinner within the field more generally and conclude by discussing the proposal that evolutionary psychology should be considered a new paradigm for psychology, a claim that seems to follow from evolutionary psychologists’ caricature of Skinner.

2003 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petteri Pietikainen

C. G. Jung's name has recently been connected with neo-Darwinian theories. One major reason for this connection is that Jungian psychology is based on the suggestion that there exists a universal structure of the mind that has its own evolutionary history. On this crucial point, Jungians and neo-Darwinian evolutionary psychologists agree. However, it will be argued in this paper that, although Jungian psychology opposes the tabula rasa doctrine (mind as a blank slate), Jung cannot be regarded as the founding father of evolutionary psychology. From the scientific perspective, Jung's biological assumptions are simply untenable and have been for many decades. In his attempt to fuse biology, spirit, and the unconscious, Jung ended in speculative flights of imagination that bear no resemblance to modern neo-Darwinian theories. The premise of the paper is that, when Jungian psychology is presented to us as a scientific psychology that has implications for the development of neo-Darwinian psychology, we should be on guard and examine the evidence.


2005 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-427
Author(s):  
Csaba Pléh

Ádám György: A rejtozködo elme. Egy fiziológus széljegyzetei Carpendale, J. I. M. és Müller, U. (eds): Social interaction and the development of knowledge Cloninger, R. C.: Feeling good. The science of well being Dunbar, Robin, Barrett, Louise, Lycett, John: Evolutionary psychology Dunbar, Robin: The human story. A new history of makind's evolution Geary, D. C.: The origin of mind. Evolution of brain, cognition and general intelligence Gedeon Péter, Pál Eszter, Sárkány Mihály, Somlai Péter: Az evolúció elméletei és metaforái a társadalomtudományokban Harré, Rom: Cognitive science: A philosophical introduction Horváth György: Pedagógiai pszichológia Marcus, G.: The birth of the mind. How a tiny number of genes creates the complexities of human thought Solso, R. D.: The psychology of art and the evolution of the conscious brain Wray, A. (ed.): The transition to language


2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Hoffman ◽  
P. Devereaux Jennings

Natural scientists have proposed that humankind has entered a new geologic epoch. Termed the “Anthropocene,” this new reality revolves around the central role of human activity in multiple Earth ecosystems. That challenge requires a rethinking of social science explanations of organization and environment relationships. In this article, we discuss the need to politicize institutional theory as a means understanding “Anthropocene Society,” and in turn what that resultant society means for the Anthropocene in the natural environment. We modify the constitutive elements of institutional orders and a set of main change mechanisms to explore three scenarios around which future Anthropocene Societies might be built—Collapsing Systems, Market Rules, and Cultural Re-Enlightenment. Simultaneously, we use observations from the Anthropocene to expose limitations in present institutional theory and propose extensions to remedy them. Overall, this article challenges organizational scholars to consider a new paradigm under which research in environmental sustainability and social sustainability takes place.


1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Mulkay ◽  
Trevor Pinch ◽  
Malcolm Ashmore
Keyword(s):  

PARADIGMI ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. 173-183
Author(s):  
Sylvain Auroux

- F. Ferretti quotes a random sample of recent studies as proofs against my arguments, and makes no mention of the conspicuous failure of glottochronology, of the one-sided methods of Ruhlen's linguistic comparison, of the questionable corres - pondences of languages with populations genetics. He clearly passes over the second, epistemological, part of the book. In his exposition, the different planes of discussion are systematically mixed up and my arguments repeatedly misinterpreted. My Reply is focused on a few points. In particular: the import of evolutionary theories on discussions of language origin, the notion of a "faculty" or "instinct" of language, the status of linguistics as an empirical science, the relations of evolutionary psychology with sociobiology. Finally, I challenge F. Ferretti's assertion, that the refutation of naturalism must necessarily result in embracing idealism. Keywords: Comparativism, Language faculty, Language origin, Limits of linguistic reconstruction, Naturalism, Sociobiology.


DIALOGO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 205-217
Author(s):  
Stephan A Schwartz

"This paper addresses the central idea of nonlocal consciousness: that all life is interconnected and interdependent, that we are part of a matrix of life, but even more fundamentally than spacetime itself arises from consciousness, not consciousness from spacetime. It is not a new idea. The excavation of burials dating to the Neolithic (≈ 10,200-2,000 BCE) has revealed that early humans had a sense of spirituality and some concept about the nature of human consciousness. It discusses the bargain made between the Roman Church, and the emerging discipline of science in the 16th century, one taking consciousness (packaged as “spirit”), the other spacetime, and how this led to physicalism taking root as a world view and becoming the prevailing materialist paradigm. It describes the emergence of a new paradigm that incorporates consciousness and lays out the four relevant descriptors helping to define what this new paradigm will look like. They are: • Only certain aspects of the mind are the result of physiologic processes. • Consciousness is causal, and physical reality is its manifestation. • All consciousnesses, regardless of their physical manifestations, are part of a network of life which they both inform and influence and are informed and influenced by; there is a passage back and forth between the individual and the collective. • Some aspects of consciousness are not limited by the time/space continuum and do not originate entirely within an organism’s neuroanatomy. "


Author(s):  
Robert Klitgaard

This book shows how we can look at the intersections among cultural settings, local choices, and development outcomes. A success story from Nepal serves as a prototype. Data, examples of success, and frameworks for analysis were developed locally and internationally and then shared in ways that elicited local creativity and respected cultural differences. This story serves as a springboard for reconsidering how to generate and apply cultural knowledge. The guiding metaphor might be “soil science” rather than “social science.” The culture and development manifesto calls for more science and more listening, for boldness and humility. It recommends a new paradigm for policy analysis and evaluation, as well as for the application of anthropological wisdom, where the goal is not to provide a set of answers that decision-makers or citizens should adopt and bureaucrats should implement, but to share data, examples, and frameworks in ways that helps locals enrich their creativity and expand their sovereignty.


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