Evolutionary Psychology and the Massive Modularity Hypothesis
نویسنده
چکیده
In recent years evolutionary psychologists have developed and defended the Massive Modularity Hypothesis, which maintains that our cognitive architecture—including the part that subserves 'central processing'—is largely or perhaps even entirely composed of innate, domain-specific computational mechanisms or 'modules'. In this paper I argue for two claims. First, I show that the two main arguments that evolutionary psychologists have offered for this general architectural thesis fail to provide us with any reason to prefer it to a competing picture of the mind which I call the Library Model of Cognition. Second, I argue that this alternative model is compatible with the central theoretical and methodological commitments of evolutionary psychology. Thus I argue that, at present, the endorsement of the Massive Modularity Hypothesis by evolutionary psychologists is both unwarranted and unmotivated.
منابع مشابه
Putting the theory before the data: is “massive modularity” a necessary foundation of evolutionary psychology?
In this volume, Burke (2014) makes a number of arguments for why evolutionary approaches have failed to penetrate the rest of the field of psychology (what Burke refers to as “mainstream” psychology). While all of his arguments have merit, I will focus on one that I consider to be particularly important—the characterization by critics of the “Santa Barbara school” (Laland and Brown, 2011) as re...
متن کاملReview of Murray Clarke’s Reconstructing Reason and Representation
Reconstructing reason and representation is a no small ambition. Is Clarke up to it? His basic theoretical postulate is the massive modularity hypothesis, one of the Founding Articles of High Church Evolutionary Psychology (hereafter EP). Clarke defends the massive modularity hypothesis against its critics – well, to be precise, against Jerry Fodor. Fodor’s main argument is that cognitive modul...
متن کاملSimple heuristics meet massive modularity
This chapter investigates the extent to which claims of massive modular organization of the mind (espoused by some members of the evolutionary psychology research program) are consistent with the main elements of the simple heuristics research program. A number of potential sources of conflict between the two programs are investigated and defused. However, the simple heuristics program turns ou...
متن کاملThe Biological Basis of Cultural Transmission Review of Thought in a Hostile World by Kim Sterelny
Once someone hits upon a good idea, others can learn it from them with ease, and develop it further. This oft-noted human ability is surely remarkable, but can it do explanatory work, and can it in turn be explained? Re-labelled ‘memetics’ this idea has generated excitement, but little insight. Sterelny’s great achievement is to transcend the platitude, to provide an illuminating account of the...
متن کاملKIM STERELNY Thought in a Hostile World Oxford : Blackwell , 2003 Paperback £ 17 . 99 ISBN : 0 - 631 - 18887 - 8 Nicholas Shea
Once someone hits upon a good idea, others can learn it from them with ease, and develop it further. This oft-noted human ability is surely remarkable, but can it do explanatory work, and can it in turn be explained? Re-labelled ‘memetics’ the idea has generated excitement, but little insight. Sterelny’s great achievement is to transcend the platitude, to provide an illuminating account of the ...
متن کامل