Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge

by Henry Plotkin

Overview

Bringing together evolutionary biology, psychology, and philosophy, Henry Plotkin presents a new science of knowledge that traces an unbreakable link between instinct and our ability to know. Since our ability to know our world depends primarily on what we call intelligence, intelligence must be understood as an extension of instinct. The capacity for knowledge is deeply rooted in our biology and, in a special sense, is shared by all living things.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674192812
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	04/25/1997
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Henry Plotkin is Professor of Psychobiology and Head of the Department of Psychology at the University College in London.

What People are Saying About This

Gerd Gigerenzer

An outstanding example of a bold and thought-provoking struggle for a unified viewpoint on the nature of knowledge. Plotkin's intention is not just to show connections between various accounts of knowledge from evolutionary biologists, psychologists, and philosophers--he is going for more. He attempts to develop and unified point of view, based on Darwin and twentieth-century evolutionary epistemology. This book is extremely lucid, clear, and well-written.
— Gerd Gigerenzer, University of Chicago

David Hull

In his Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge, Plotkin does for evolutionary epistemology what Richard Dawkins did for gene selectionism in The Selfish Gene. As in the case of gene selectionist versions of evolutionary theory, most of the work in evolutionary epistemology is highly esoteric and extremely hard to follow. Plotkin decided that it was time to summarize the advances in ways that more general readers can comprehend and appreciate. He has simplified this large literature without distorting it. I read the book with enjoyment.
— David Hull, Northwestern University

Editorial Reviews

Plotkin is a psychologist and his book places most emphasis on learning or the acquisition of knowledge and the cultural transmission of that knowledge. It is an extended essay on ‘evolutionary epistemology,’ a phrase coined by D. T. Campbell and rightly seen by Plotkin as a barrier to understanding. Indeed, one of this book’s great virtues is that Plotkin writes incomparably more clearly than most others who have ventured into these fields. His exposition, even of complex issues, is beautifully lucid, his arguments well thought through and his illustrations apt.

Nature

In his Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge, Plotkin does for evolutionary epistemology what Richard Dawkins did for gene selectionism in The Selfish Gene. As in the case of gene selectionist versions of evolutionary theory, most of the work in evolutionary epistemology is highly esoteric and extremely hard to follow. Plotkin decided that it was time to summarize the advances in ways that more general readers can comprehend and appreciate. He has simplified this large literature without distorting it. I read the book with enjoyment.

An outstanding example of a bold and thought-provoking struggle for a unified viewpoint on the nature of knowledge. Plotkin’s intention is not just to show connections between various accounts of knowledge from evolutionary biologists, psychologists, and philosophers—he is going for more. He attempts to develop a unified point of view based on Darwin and twentieth-century evolutionary epistemology. This book is extremely lucid, clear, and well-written.

From the Publisher

Plotkin ties together philosophy, evolutionary biology, and psychology to provide a new examination of the science of knowledge. The nature of learning and intelligence are seen as the extension of instincts that are deeply rooted in our biology… Plotkin is excellent at describing difficult and convoluted issues.

Choice

Plotkin makes evolutionary epistemology accessible to nonspecialists, developing a model in which sense-based knowledge anchors mind-based knowledge, coupling more tightly to individual intelligence than to the ‘knowledge’ constructs of cultures. Plotkin offers an extremely readable account and defense of evolutionary epistemology, a prominent, if controversial, position in contemporary philosophy of science.

Technology & Society Science

Plotkin is a psychologist and his book places most emphasis on learning or the acquisition of knowledge and the cultural transmission of that knowledge. It is an extended essay on ‘evolutionary epistemology,’ a phrase coined by D. T. Campbell and rightly seen by Plotkin as a barrier to understanding. Indeed, one of this book’s great virtues is that Plotkin writes incomparably more clearly than most others who have ventured into these fields. His exposition, even of complex issues, is beautifully lucid, his arguments well thought through and his illustrations apt.

Nature Lib

In his Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge, Plotkin does for evolutionary epistemology what Richard Dawkins did for gene selectionism in The Selfish Gene. As in the case of gene selectionist versions of evolutionary theory, most of the work in evolutionary epistemology is highly esoteric and extremely hard to follow. Plotkin decided that it was time to summarize the advances in ways that more general readers can comprehend and appreciate. He has simplified this large literature without distorting it. I read the book with enjoyment.

David Hull

An outstanding example of a bold and thought-provoking struggle for a unified viewpoint on the nature of knowledge. Plotkin's intention is not just to show connections between various accounts of knowledge from evolutionary biologists, psychologists, and philosophers—he is going for more. He attempts to develop and unified point of view, based on Darwin and twentieth-century evolutionary epistemology. This book is extremely lucid, clear, and well-written.

Gerd Gigerenzer

Plotkin makes evolutionary epistemology accessible to nonspecialists, developing a model in which sense-based knowledge anchors mind-based knowledge, coupling more tightly to individual intelligence than to the 'knowledge' constructs of cultures. Plotkin offers an extremely readable account and defense of evolutionary epistemology, a prominent, if controversial, position in contemporary philosophy of science.

Science, Technology & Society - Steven L. Goldman

Plotkin is a psychologist and his book places most emphasis on learning or the acquisition of knowledge and the cultural transmission of that knowledge. It is an extended essay on 'evolutionary epistemology', a phrase coined by D. T. Campbell and rightly seen by Plotkin as a barrier to understanding. Indeed, one of this book's great virtues is that Plotkin writes incomparably more clearly than most others who have ventured into these fields. His exposition, even of complex issues, is beautifully lucid, his arguments well thought through and his illustrations apt.

Nature - Nicholas Mackintosh