Article ID: CBB001023966

Weismann, Wittgenstein and the Homunculus Fallacy (2010)

unapi

A problem that has troubled both neo-Darwinists and neo-Lamarckians is whether instincts involve knowledge. This paper discusses the contributions to this problem of the evolutionary biologist August Weismann and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Weismann discussed an empirical homunculus fallacy: Lamarck's theory mistakenly presupposes a homunculus in the germ cells. Wittgenstein discussed a conceptual homunculus fallacy which applies to Lamarck's theory: it is mistaken to suppose that knowledge is stored in the brain or DNA. The upshot of these two fallacies is that instincts arise through a neo-Darwinian process but are not cognitions in the sense that they involve (the recollection of stored) knowledge. Although neo-Lamarckians have rightly argued that learning processes may contribute to the development of instincts, their ideas about the role of knowledge in the evolution and development of instincts are mistaken.

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Description Discusses the problem addressed by August Weismann and Ludwig Wittgenstein of whether instincts involve knowledge.


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001023966/

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Authors & Contributors
Gissis, Snait B.
Jablonka, Eva
Aronova, E. A.
Brzezinski Prestes, María Elice de
Deichmann, Ute
Eldredge, Niles
Journals
Journal of the History of Biology
19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century
Asclepio: Archivo Iberoamericano de Historia de la Medicina
Biological Theory
British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
Korean Journal of Medical History
Publishers
Associação de Filosofia e História da Ciência do Cone Sul
Columbia University Press
Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa
The MIT Press
Legenda
Concepts
Biology
Darwinism
Evolution
Lamarckism
Philosophy of biology
Heredity
People
Weismann, August
Lamarck, Jean Baptiste Antoine Pierre de Monet de
Darwin, Charles Robert
Baldwin, James Mark
Beurlen, Karl
Butler, Samuel
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
18th century
20th century, late
21st century
Places
Brazil
France
Germany
United States
Argentina
Institutions
Human Genome Project
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