"Where Biology Meets Psychology is a welcome addition to
the growing literature linking biology -- especially neuroscience and
evolution -- to psychology and the philosophy of mind. This volume has
the further advantage of not being another gathering of the usual
suspects."
-- Robert Cummins, Professor of Philosophy,
University of California, Davis
A great deal of interest and excitement surround the interface between
the philosophy of biology and the philosophy of psychology, yet the
area is neither well defined nor well represented in mainstream
philosophical publications. This book is perhaps the first to open a
dialogue between the two disciplines. Its aim is to broaden the
traditional subject matter of the philosophy of biology while
informing the philosophy of psychology of relevant biological
constraints and insights.
The book is organized around six themes: functions and teleology,
evolutionary psychology, innateness, philosophy of mind, philosophy of
science, and parallels between philosophy of biology and philosophy of
mind. Throughout, one finds overlapping areas of study, larger
philosophical implications, and even larger conceptual ties. Woven
through these connections are shared concerns about the status of
semantics, scientific law, evolution and adaptation, and cognition in
general.
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