Article ID: CBB001420746

Exaptation, Adaptation, and Evolutionary Psychology (2013)

unapi

One of the most well known methodological criticisms of evolutionary psychology is Gould's claim that the program pays too much attention to adaptations, and not enough to exaptations. Almost as well known is the standard rebuttal of that criticism: namely, that the study of exaptations in fact depends on the study of adaptations. However, as I try to show in this paper, it is premature to think that this is where this debate ends. First, the notion of exaptation that is commonly used in this debate is different from the one that Gould and Vrba originally defined. Noting this is particularly important, since, second, the standard reply to Gould's criticism only works if the criticism is framed in terms of the former notion of exaptation, and not the latter. However, third, this ultimately does not change the outcome of the debate much, as evolutionary psychologists can respond to the revamped criticism of their program by claiming that the original notion of exaptation is theoretically and empirically uninteresting. By discussing these issues further, I also seek to determine, more generally, which ways of approaching the adaptationism debate in evolutionary biology are useful, and which not.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001420746/

Similar Citations

Article Schulz, Armin; (2013)
Exaptation, Adaptation, and Evolutionary Psychology (/isis/citation/CBB001320176/)

Book Sterelny, Kim; (2001)
Dawkins vs. Gould: Survival of the Fittest (/isis/citation/CBB000631012/)

Article Shanahan, Timothy; (2001)
Methodological and contextual factors in the Dawkins/Gould dispute over evolutionary progress (/isis/citation/CBB000100746/)

Article Sansom, Roger; (2003)
Constraining the Adaptationism Debate (/isis/citation/CBB000340586/)

Book Joel B. Hagen; (2021)
Life Out of Balance: Homeostasis and Adaptation in a Darwinian World (/isis/citation/CBB148836828/)

Article Morange, Michel; (2008)
Cyril Norman Hinshelwood (1897--1967)---A Chemical Dynamic Vision of the Organic World (/isis/citation/CBB001034012/)

Article Maurizio Meloni; (2017)
Disentangling life: Darwin, selectionism, and the postgenomic return of the environment (/isis/citation/CBB291217176/)

Chapter Davis, Frederick R.; (2009)
Papilio Dardanus: The Natural Animal from the Experimentalist's Point of View (/isis/citation/CBB001022527/)

Article Depew, David J.; (2011)
Adaptation as Process: The Future of Darwinism and the Legacy of Theodosius Dobzhansky (/isis/citation/CBB001023991/)

Book Ruse, Michael; Travis, Joseph; (2009)
Evolution: The First Four Billion Years (/isis/citation/CBB001232307/)

Article Dietrich, Michael R.; (2011)
Reinventing Richard Goldschmidt: Reputation, Memory, and Biography (/isis/citation/CBB001220958/)

Book York, Richard; Clark, Brett; (2011)
The Science and Humanism of Stephen Jay Gould (/isis/citation/CBB001023118/)

Article Ruse, Michael; (2010)
Darwinism Then and Now: The Divide Over Form and Function (/isis/citation/CBB001032813/)

Chapter Rudge, David Wyss; (2009)
H. B. D. Kettlewell's Research, 1934--1961: The Influence of J. W. Heslop Harrison (/isis/citation/CBB001022528/)

Thesis Milam, Erika Lorraine; (2006)
Looking for a Few Good Males: Female Choice in Evolutionary Biology, 1915--1975 (/isis/citation/CBB001560598/)

Book Borrello, Mark E.; (2010)
Evolutionary Restraints: The Contentious History of Group Selection (/isis/citation/CBB001033348/)

Essay Review Smocovitis, Vassiliki Betty; (2002)
Rogues and Rotters: A Popular View of Evolutionary Psychology (/isis/citation/CBB000202117/)

Authors & Contributors
Ruse, Michael
Hagen, Joel B.
Riordan, D. Vincent
York, Richard
Travis, Joseph
Sterelny, Kim
Concepts
Evolution
Adaptation (biology)
Controversies and disputes
Genetics
Natural selection
Darwinism
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
20th century, late
18th century
Places
United States
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment