EvPhil Blog - Evolutionary Philosophy

Introduction to Evolutionary Philosophy - Purpose

7/6/2012

Here goes...

I know this blogging thing will start slowly, but it still feels a little like that small man in white in the picture - riding a zipline high over a freezing river while thousands of onlookers wait to see if he succeeds or fails. Well hopefully this won't disappoint.

I've posted an entire book's worth of philosophy on this website, but I want to take the time now to go over each section of it. If I'm really going to create an Evolutionary Philosophy, I want it to be as peer reviewed by the public as I can make it - that's the way evolution works isn't it? Cooperation, competition, mutation, selection, adaptation, survival of the fittest... - but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The first section I want to post and talk about is Purpose - the purpose of Evolutionary Philosophy. It's a short section laying out some of the challenges we face, the choices we have, and the change that I would like to see made. It's the rallying cry for why I've been thinking about these issues for as long as I can remember. Have a look and let me know if this speaks to you, too. Do you think we need another belief system? Does humanity need to learn how to unite and work together? Can that unification come from the shared fact that we are all life and we are all products of evolution? Post your comments below and tell me what you think.

There's no doubt this is an ambitious undertaking, but what isn't that's really worth doing? I have a lot in mind for where this can go, but for now it's time to just take the first step. There will be many more to come.

Purpose of Evolutionary Philosophy

4 Comments

Jim

12/15/2016 09:56:21 am

I’m a late arrival to your web site, so I thought I’d start near the beginning .

Regarding this statement in your “Purpose” section: “Evolutionary Philosophy is the term I am using for a new belief system. Just as Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary Psychology look to our evolutionary roots for answers about our biological and psychological questions, Evolutionary Philosophy (EvPhil for short) looks to our evolutionary roots for common answers to our common philosophical questions.”

I’m not sure I follow the analogy and its relation to the purposes and objectives of your site, which makes me uncertain as to what you mean by the term “Evolutionary Philosophy”. Evolutionary biology and psychology use theories of adaptation and natural selection to explain currently observed biological and psychological traits in humans (and, where applicable, in other living species); the purpose in both cases to better understand and explain those observed biological or psychological traits. My interpretation of the term “Evolutionary Philosophy”, in the context of your analogy to biology and psychology, would be that it uses theories of adaptation and natural selection to explain currently held philosophies (or belief systems); and in doing so, better understand why those belief systems exist. Yet you state that “Evolutionary Philosophy” is itself a “new belief system”. Could you clarify your terminology or perhaps point to another post that clarifies it or expands on it?

Thanks

@EdGibney link

12/15/2016 02:09:20 pm

Thanks for the thoughtful inquiry Jim! And welcome to the website. I really appreciate the effort you've taken to go back to square one and try to gain an understanding of what I'm saying right from first principles. That's important and your question is a good one, which I'm happy to work on to see if I can clear it up. (I plan to reissue a much fuller second edition of "Evolutionary Philosophy" someday, perhaps through an actual publishing house if I can manage it, and so these questions for clarification are exactly what I need to know for that.)

You seem to get what I'm saying right up until this part:

>>My interpretation of the term “Evolutionary Philosophy”, in the context of your analogy to biology and psychology, would be that it uses theories of adaptation and natural selection to explain currently held philosophies (or belief systems); and in doing so, better understand why those belief systems exist.<<

I agree that's what the fields of evolutionary biology and psychology do collectively, but I'm not explaining *currently held philosophies* so much as I am *developing my own system of philosophy* using the perspective gained from studying evolutionary history. Of course, *my own system* has much overlap with the best philosophy already written, and that is where I *evaluate* currently held philosophies, unlike evolutionary scientists who don't judge the behaviours they are describing, they merely try to explain them from an evolutionary perspective. I, on the other hand, am specifically taking one moral position so I *can* judge other philosophies with respect to how well they stand up to my own (which, again, is derived from looking at philosophy using an evolutionary perspective).

In one of my most recent blog posts (Response to Thought Experiment 73: Being a Bat: https://is.gd/Uq5WC3), I explained this further:

--------
In the book American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia, the entry on Evolution builds toward its end with the following passage, which means very much to me:

"Daniel Dennet has assumed the mantle of the early pragmatists in drawing out the philosophical implications of Darwinian evolution, and advocating an evolutionary perspective in addressing traditional philosophical topics. In his 1995 Darwin's Dangerous Idea he calls evolution a "universal acid" (echoing Dewey's "greatest dissolvement") because of its power to break down ideas to their more basic elements. Dennett argues for the need to apply this acid test to our accumulated wisdom in order to better assess that wisdom and to free it from historical distortions and errors."

Applying this "acid test" is essentially what I am trying to do with this website and all my other writings. And I have consistently found that having such an evolutionary perspective provides a clear and interlocking set of beliefs that consistently come together to help solve the most fundamental questions of philosophy (in as much as any of them have a final answer).
--------

So Dennet's mantle of applying the acid test of evolution to philosophy is what I'm trying to do. I once got into a minor twitter battle with another philosopher when I claimed that after googling the term extensively, I hadn't seen another philosopher saying they were writing evolutionary philosophy. This guy first said the term made no sense, which was why no one used it, but then he changed tactics and said well actually several people write this way. I agree; they have. But I haven't seen anyone else label their writings as such, as if they were part of a new school of thought such as existentialists, phenomenologists, or stoics. I once asked another philosopher what he thought about doing a PhD to research and establish such a school and he was quick to dismiss it, but I have spoken with others who recognise there are certainly evolutionary ethicists, and evolutionary epistemologists (both have wiki entries), so why not a broader "evolutionary philosophy" (which has no such entry)?

What do you think? Does that make my terminology clearer?

Jim

12/15/2016 04:07:22 pm

Yes, Ed. Your explanation does explain your purpose better. Effectively, your comparison of “Evolutionary Philosophy” to Evolutionary Biology and Psychology is not meant to be a direct analogy but more of a similarity. The words “Just as” in your purpose statement sent me down the path of thinking you were making a direct analogy to the purposes and methodologies of those other disciplines.

Semantics aside, your ability to communicate complex ideas is very good and your writing is enjoyable to read. I wish you well as you pull your book together on this difficult subject.

@EdGibney link

12/15/2016 07:08:35 pm

Okay great. I agree that usage of "just as" wasn't precise. To be fair, I'm much better at this 4.5 years later. : ) But I will definitely clarify this in the future and maybe even update my Purpose page soon. Thanks!

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Introduction to Evolutionary Philosophy - Purpose

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