Evolutionary Psychology
By Diana Hsieh
Paul recently pointed me to this article on emerging criticisms of evolutionary psychology. Although I've not studied the subject in great depth, my general understanding of what I have read (mostly for an undergraduate course on "The Biological Foundations of Human Behavior") is that the subject fundamentally rests upon the arbitrary rationalizations of "Just So Stories" coupled with the falsehood of genetic determinism. As the article indicates, I doubt that even its model of the brain as modular-by-genes is correct.
However, I'm open to hearing an Objectivist case for evolutionary psychology -- if such is possible. I'm particularly concerned with the apparent conflict between the fact of human volition and the explanations for human behavior offered by evolutionary psychology. I'd also love pointers to articles that a defender of evolutionary psychology regards as good science untainted by bad philosophy.
So fire away!






I'm
Paul Hsieh is a physician specializing in orthopedic and emergency radiology. He blogs about science, technology, and random humorous items at
Greg Perkins is a software architect working in the R&D labs at Hewlett-Packard, Boise. His degree is in mathematics and computer science. Greg hosts 
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