Philosophy After Darwin: Classic and Contemporary ReadingsMichael Ruse Wittgenstein famously remarked in 1923, "Darwin's theory has no more relevance for philosophy than any other hypothesis in natural science." Yet today we are witnessing a major revival of interest in applying evolutionary approaches to philosophical problems. Philosophy after Darwin is an anthology of essential writings covering the most influential ideas about the philosophical implications of Darwinism, from the publication of On the Origin of Species to today's cutting-edge research. Michael Ruse presents writings by leading modern thinkers and researchers--including some writings never before published--together with the most important historical documents on Darwinism and philosophy, starting with Darwin himself. Included here are Herbert Spencer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Henry Huxley, G. E. Moore, John Dewey, Konrad Lorenz, Stephen Toulmin, Karl Popper, Edward O. Wilson, Hilary Putnam, Philip Kitcher, Elliott Sober, and Peter Singer. Readers will encounter some of the staunchest critics of the evolutionary approach, such as Alvin Plantinga, as well as revealing excerpts from works like Jack London's The Call of the Wild. Ruse's comprehensive general introduction and insightful section introductions put these writings in context and explain how they relate to such fields as epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and ethics. An invaluable anthology and sourcebook, Philosophy after Darwin traces philosophy's complicated relationship with Darwin's dangerous idea, and shows how this relationship reflects a broad movement toward a secular, more naturalistic understanding of the human experience. |
Contents
HERBERT SPENCER The Principles of Psychology | 29 |
WILLIAM JAMES Great Men Great Thoughts and the Environment | 49 |
CHARLES DARWIN The Descent of Man | 77 |
HERBERT SPENCER The Data of Ethics | 103 |
ANDREW CARNEGIE The Gospel of Wealth | 122 |
JACK LONDON The Call of the Wild | 137 |
THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY Evolution and Ethics | 152 |
KARL POPPER Darwinism as a Metaphysical Research Programme | 167 |
LARRY ARNHART Darwinian Conservatism | 349 |
MICHAEL RUSE | 365 |
PHILIP KITCHER Four Ways of Biologicizing Ethics | 379 |
ROBERT J RICHARDS A Defense of Evolutionary Ethics | 388 |
MARC HAUSER The Liver and the Moral Organ | 423 |
ELLIOTT SOBER | 433 |
RICHARD JOYCE Is Human Morality Innate? | 452 |
ZACH ERNST Game Theory in Evolutionary Biology | 464 |
DENNETT Memes and the Exploitation of Imagination | 189 |
A Sociobiological Model | 202 |
KONRAD LORENZ Kants Doctrine of the A Priori in | 231 |
STEVEN PINKER How the Mind Works | 275 |
RONALD DE SOUSA Evolution Thinking and Rationality | 289 |
EVAN FALES Darwins Doubt Calvins Calvary | 309 |
EDWARD O WILSON On Human Nature | 333 |
Politics Evolution and Cooperation | 343 |