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 of Nebraska

Editorial Advisory Board:

K. BORCH, Norwegian School of Economics 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 of Munich

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 Epis­temology 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

7. Justification of the Code (Compatibility W!tf 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 frame­work 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 epis­temology: these papers provide the basic concepts, facts and tenets of evolu­tionary 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

PREFACE xi

Epistemology', is, as mentioned above, a critical comment on evolutionary epistemology. Werner Leinfellner discussing 'Evolutionary Causality, Theory of Games, and Evolution of Intelligence' contributes to the development of evolutionary epistemology by game-theoretic and decision-theoretic models. Leinfellner's paper rounds off, so to speak, Seitelberger's presentation of neurobiological aspects. In my concluding remarks, 'Evolutionary Episte­mology - A New Copernican Revolution?', I try to explain that evolutionary epistemology does not mean a 'Third Copernican Revolution', but rather a change in the paradigm of the theory of knowledge.

Gunter Wagner's paper, 'The Logical Basis of Evolutionary Epistemology', substantiates the logical framework for evolutionary epistemology. Wagner offers convincing evidence that such an epistemology does not mean merely a tautological account of the problems it tries to solve.

The basic idea underlying the evolutionist position in epistemology may be stated as follows: cognition, be it in the subhuman or in the human world, is a product of evolution; human knowledge, therefore, cannot start from nothing, cannot start from a tabula rasa. Hence the existence of innate cogni­tive capacities, i.e. a priori structures of knowledge, is very probable. How­ever, these structures of knowledge are also products of evolution. In short, the prerequisites of human cognition (and knowledge) are a priori for each individual, but they are a posteriori for the chain of the evolutionary deve­lopment of our species. Because of these claims of evolutionary epistemology the reader will understand why so much is said about Kant and Kantian 'apriorism'in this volume.

Finally - in order to point to what evolutionary epistemology is not - I should stress that evolutionary epistemology must not be confused with any ideological claims. The evolutionary theory of human knowledge is rather, one way to overcome ideological, illusory styles of thinking which have hitherto often bewitched human reason.

Last, but not least I must take this opportunity to express my thanks to the contributors for their willingness to prepare original papers. I wish par­ticularly to thank Werner LeinfelIner for his many valuable suggestions and helpful comments. My thanks also go to Jeff Schank for conscientious editor­ial help. I also wish to acknowledge the service given by the D. Reidel Publish­ing Company in the publishing of this book.

July 1982 FRANZ M. WUKETITS

To the Memory of Charles Darwin

The evolutionary approach will prompt us to ask the right questions of nature, and, when we have asked them, will help us to find the right answers.

Julian Huxley