Concepts and Approaches in Evolutionary Epistemology: Towards an Evolutionary Theory of Knowledge

328 Pages·1983·14.639 MB·English

by  Franz M. Wuketits (auth.), Franz M. Wuketits (eds.)

CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES IN EVOLUTIONARY EPISTEMOLOGY
THEORY AND DECISION LIBRARY
AN INTERNATIONAL SERIES
IN THE PHILOSOPHY AND METHODOLOGY OF THE
SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
Editors
GERALD EBERLEIN, University of Technology, Munich
WERNER LEINFELLNER, University ofN ebraska
Editorial Advisory Board:
K. BORCH, Norwegian School ofE conomics and Business Administration
M. BUNGE, McGill University
J. S. COLEMAN, University of Chicago
W. KROEBER-RIEL, University of Saarland
A. RAPOPORT, University of Toronto
F. SCHICK, Rutgers University
A. SEN, Oxford University
W. STEGMULLER, University ofM unich
K. SZANIAWSKI, University of Warsaw
L. TONDL, Prague
A. TVERSKY, Stanford University
VOLUME 36
CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES
IN EVOLUTIONARY
EPISTEMOLOGY
Towards an Evolutionary Theory of Knowledge
Edited by
FRANZ M. WUKETITS
University of Vienna, Austria
....
D. REIDEL PUBLISIDNG COMPANY
A MEMBER OF THE KLUWER " ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP
DORDRECHT/BOSTON/LANCASTER
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Concepts and approaches in evolutionary epistemology.
(Theory and decision library; v. 36)
Includes bibliographies and index.
1. Knowledge, Theory of - Addresses, essays, lectures.
I. Wuketits, Franz M. II. Series.
BDl61.C64 1983 121 83-13912
ISBN-I3: 978-94-009-7129-5 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-7127-1
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-7127-1
Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company,
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, Holland
Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada
by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
190 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, U.S.A.
In all other countries, sold and distributed
by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group,
P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, Holland
All Rights Reserved
© 1984 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
No part oUhe material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ix
FRANZ M. WUKETITS I Evolutionary Epistemology - A Challenge
to Science and Philosophy 1
1. Introduction 1
2. The Notion of the Innate - hnmanuel Kant and Beyond 2
3. Patterns of Nature and the Nature of Cognition or, 'Why the
Eye is Attuned to the Sun' 10
4. The Interdisciplinary Foundation of Evolutionary Epistem-
ology 15
5. The Challenge to Science and Philosophy 21
(a) Towards a New Image of Man 21
(b) Towards Rationality and Objective Knowledge 23
(c) Towards a New Epistemology 24
6. Summary and Conclusion 25
Notes 26
Bibliography 29
RUPERT RIEDL I Evolution and Evolutionary Knowledge - On
the Correspondence Between Cognitive Order and Nature 35
1. Separate Approaches 35
2. Judgements and Prejudices 36
3. The Theory of Evolution 36
4. Epistemological Questions 38
5. Nature and Thinking 39
6. A System of Hypotheses 40
7. Natural and Cognitive Order 45
8. The Kantian Apriori 46
9. Summary 47
~~ ~
Bibliography 48
v
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
ROBER T KASPAR / A Short Introduction to the Biological Prin-
ciples of Evolutionary Epistemology 51
1. Life as a Cognition Process 51
1.1. Evolution and Entropy 51
1.2. Maximization of Information in the Genome 51
1.3. Systematization of Living Order 52
1.4. The Nervous System and the Ratiomorphic Apparatus 54
2. The "Hypotheses" of the Ratiomorphic Apparatus 56
3. Summary 64
Notes 65
Bibliography 67
GERHARD VOLLMER / Mesocosm and Objective Knowledge - On
Problems Solved by Evolutionary Epistemology 69
1. Introduction 69
2. Facts and Fits - What Evolutionary Epistemology Tries to
Explain 69
3. Tenets and Traits - What Evolutionary Epistemology Does
Assert 75
4. Caveats and Corrections - What Evolutionary Epistemology
Does Not Assert 82
5. Mesocosm and Visualization 87
6. Projection and Reconstruction 94
7. Objectivity and Invariance 100
8. Mathematics and Reality 106
9. Causality and Energy Transfer 109
10. Mind and Evolution 114
11. Unfinished Tasks and Unsolved Problems 118
Bibliography 121
FRANZ SEITELBERGER / Neurobiological Aspects of Intelligence 123
Bibliography 147
ERHARD OESER / The Evolution of Scientific Method 149
1. The Historical Background 150
2. Objective Scientific Knowledge as a Break with the Ratio-
morphic Past: The "Third" Evolution 151
T ABLE OF CONTENTS vii
3. The Systematic Relationship of Empirical-Evolutionary Epis
temology and Meta-Empirical or Pure "Transcendental"
Epistemology 154
4. Information and Knowledge 157
5. Science as an Evolutionary Information System 171
6. The "Law of Three Stages" of the Evolution of Method 175
Notes 182
Bibliography 183
HANS MOHR / The Ethics of Science: Compatible with the Concept
of Evolutionary Epistemology? 185
1. The Traditional Viewpoint 185
2. Values 185
3. Science 186
3.1. Objective Knowledge as the Sovereign Good 187
3.2. The Guiding Thesis of this Chapter 187
4. Motivation of Science 188
5. Scientific Communities 191
6. The Ethics of Science 192
6.1. The Intuitively Conceived Code 192
6.2. The Explicit Code 192
W!tf
7. Justification of the Code (Compatibility Evolutionary
Epistemology) '196
8. The Ethics of Science as a Partial Code of Conduct 199
9. Extention of the Ethics of Science to Society? 202
10. Homo investigans versus Homo politicus 202
11. Threats Bearing upon the Ethics of Science 204
Bibliography 206
REINHARD LOW / The Metaphysical Limits of Evolutionary Epis-
temology 209
1. Evolutionary Epistemology is a Philosophical Proposal 210
2. As a Philosophical Theory, Evolutionary Epistemology is a
Variant of Naturalistic Realism 212
3. Evolutionary Epistemology and Causality 215
4. Difficulties with the Principle of "Fulguration" 221
5. By Its Claim to Truth, Evolutionary Epistemology Annuls
fuili U2
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
6. Evolutionary Epistemology is Unable to Support Its Own
Ethical Claims 223
7. Evolutionary Epistemology and Ethics 225
Notes 227
Selected Bibliography 230
WERNER LEINFELLNER / Evolutionary Causality, Theory of
Games, and Evolution of Intelligence 233
1. A Model for Evolutionary Causality 233
2. The Equivalence of the Theory of Evolution and Dynamic
Games 246
3. Evolutionary Epistemology, Memory, and Intelligence 262
References 276
FRANZ M. WUKETITS / Evolutionary Epistemology - A New
Copernican Revolution? 279
Notes 283
Bibliography 284
APPENDIX. GUNTER P. WAGNER / The wgical Basis of Evolu-
tionary Epistemology 285
1. The Limits of the Analytical Approach 286
2. The wgical Structure of the Evolutionary Approach to
Epistemological Questions 289
3. Consistency Proof for Riedl's Probability Hypothesis 292
4. The Problem of Theoretical Terms in Evolutionary Perspective 299
4.1. The Structure of Theoretical Terms 299
4.2. Why Theoretical Terms Remain a Problem 300
4.3. The Example of the Term "Homology": Towards a Non-
linear Logic? 303
Notes 305
Bibliography 306
INDEX OF NAMES 309
INDEX OF SUBJECTS 314
PREFACE
The present volume brings together current interdisciplinary research which
adds up to an evolutionary theory of human knowledge, Le. evolutionary
epistemology. It comprises ten papers, dealing with the basic concepts,
approaches and data in evolutionary epistemology and discussing some of
their most important consequences. Because I am convinced that criticism,
if not confused with mere polemics, is apt to stimulate the maturation of a
scientific or philosophical theory, I invited Reinhard Low to present his
critical view of evolutionary epistemology and to indicate some limits of our
evolutionary conceptions.
The main purpose of this book is to meet the urgent need of both science
and philosophy for a comprehensive up-to-date approach to the problem of
knowledge, going beyond the traditional disciplinary boundaries of scientific
and philosophical thought. Evolutionary epistemology has emerged as a
naturalistic and science-oriented view of knowledge taking cognizance of,
and compatible with, results of biological, psychological, anthropological
and linguistic inquiries concerning the structure and development of man's
cognitive apparatus. Thus, evolutionary epistemology serves as a frame
work for many contemporary discussions of the age-old problem of human
knowledge.
In spite of the obvious importance of evolutionary epistemology it is
apparent to those who realize that something exciting is going on here that
up too now no comprehensive volume covering the various aspects of the
subject has been published. That is the reason why this book is needed; the
more so since I suppose that the reader will appreciate having a collection of
the different approaches to evolutionary epistemology and finding their
advocates' own standpoints expressed. Those groups of readers who should
find the book of special interest, will be graduate students and researchers
in philosophy, philosophy of science, sociology of knowledge, foundations
of science, biology and psychology. The book should also be of interest to
scientists working in special branches of research such as neurophysiology,
human ethology, and related fields.
In order to shape the different contributions of this volume into a coherent
scheme I shall give a brief account of the structure of the book.
ix
x PREFACE
My own paper, 'Evolutionary Epistemology - A Challenge to Science and
Philosophy', outlines the central questions of evolutionary epistemology
and includes a historical survey of them. I attempt to point out the basic
postulates of the evolutionary view in epistemology and to outline the
systematic position of such a view in science and philosophy. Last, but not
least, the paper contains a preview of innovations brought about by the
evolutionary theory of human knowledge.
Rupert Riedl in his essay 'Evolution and Evolutionary Knowledge -
On the Correspondence Between Cognitive Order and Nature' describes the
different approaches to evolutionary epistemology and concentrates on the
portrayal of his own opinion. Riedl's point of view is that of a biologist.
Robert Kaspar's article 'A Short Introduction to the Biological Principles
of Evolutionary Epistemology' is an introductory synopsis of the biological
foundations of evolutionary epistemology; this article, like Riedl's paper,
reconsiders the thesis that the evolution oflife is a cognition process.
The paper by Gerhard Vollmer, 'Mesocosm and Objective Knowledge -
On Problems Solved by Evolutionary Epistemology', is a profound analysis
of facts and problems of evolutionary epistemology. It aims, above all, to
show what the evolutionary theory of knowledge really asserts and what it
does not assert, and to discuss numerous philosophical problems which are
solved or at least elucidated by the evolutionary approach.
Franz Seitelberger in his article 'Neurobiological Aspects of Intelligence'
presents some important aspects from the viewpoint of the neurobiologist.
His neurobiological approach to understanding man's mental abilities can be
carried over to the evolutionary theory of knowledge.
The papers mentioned so far contain the elements of evolutionary epis
temology: these papers provide the basic concepts, facts and tenets of evolu
tionary epistemology provided by several scientific disciplines. The foll{)wing
articles, however, include some more special issues.
Erhard Oeser in his paper 'The Evolution of Scientific Method' discusses
the development of science and scientific method from the viewpoint of the
theory of evolution and particularly the evolutionary theory of human
knowledge. Within the framework of this theory the emergence of science
is explained as the result of a self-controlling and self-correcting process
of cognition. Similarly Hans Mohr in his article 'The Ethics of Science:
Compatible with the Concept of Evolutionary Epistemology?' adopts an
evolutionary view of science. Mohr tries to show that this view corresponds
to ethical demands on scientific research.
The essay by Reinhard Low, 'The Metaphysical Limits of Evolutionary