Philosophy, Evolution and Human Nature

Catalog description

This course covers philosophical issues in the evolutionary study of human cognition: the role of adaptationism; the values of psychological vs. behavioral approaches; the phenotypic gambit; the evolution of morality and altruism; the nature of culture and the possibility of cultural evolution; innateness, genetic determinism and development; and case studies of evolutionary explanation of human behavior or psychology. Students cannot receive credit for both PHI 447 and PHI 547 .