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531Evolutionary Epistemology: Two Research Avenues, Three Schools, and A Single and Shared AgendaJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 52 (2): 197-209. 2021.This special issue for the Journal for General Philosophy of Science is devoted to exploring the impact and many ramifications of current research in evolutionary epistemology. Evolutionary epistemology is an inter- and multidisciplinary area of research that can be divided into two ever-inclusive research avenues. One research avenue expands on the EEM program and investigates the epistemology of evolution. The other research avenue builds on the EET program and researches the evolution of epis…Read more
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487Hierarchies, Networks, and Causality: The Applied Evolutionary Epistemological ApproachJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 52 (2): 313-334. 2021.Applied Evolutionary Epistemology is a scientific-philosophical theory that defines evolution as the set of phenomena whereby units evolve at levels of ontological hierarchies by mechanisms and processes. This theory also provides a methodology to study evolution, namely, studying evolution involves identifying the units that evolve, the levels at which they evolve, and the mechanisms and processes whereby they evolve. Identifying units and levels of evolution in turn requires the development of…Read more
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439Biosemiotics and Applied Evolutionary Epistemology: A Comparison.In In: Pagni E., Theisen Simanke R. (eds) Biosemiotics and Evolution. Interdisciplinary Evolution Research, vol 6. Springer, Cham.. pp. 175-199. 2021.Both biosemiotics and evolutionary epistemology are concerned with how knowledge evolves. (Applied) Evolutionary Epistemology thereby focuses on identifying the units, levels, and mechanisms or processes that underlie the evolutionary development of knowing and knowledge, while biosemiotics places emphasis on the study of how signs underlie the development of meaning. We compare the two schools of thought and analyze how in delineating their research program, biosemiotics runs into several probl…Read more
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404Non-genetic inheritance: Evolution above the organismal levelBiosystems 1 (200): 104325. 2021.The article proposes to further develop the ideas of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis by including into evolutionary research an analysis of phenomena that occur above the organismal level. We demonstrate that the current Extended Synthesis is focused more on individual traits (genetically or non-genetically inherited) and less on community system traits (synergetic/organizational traits) that characterize transgenerational biological, ecological, social, and cultural systems. In this regard,…Read more
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332Teleonomy as a problem of self-causationBiological Journal of the Linnean Society 139. forthcoming.A theoretical framework is provided to explore teleonomy as a problem of self-causation, distinct from upward, downward and reticulate causation. Causality theories in biology are often formulated within hierarchy theories, where causation is conceptualized as running up or down the rungs of a ladder-like hierarchy or, more recently, as moving between multiple hierarchies. Research on the genealogy of cosmologies demonstrates that in addition to hierarchy theories, causality theories also depend…Read more
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326Defining Communication and Language from Within a Pluralistic Evolutionary WorldviewTopoi 41 (3): 609-622. 2022.New definitions are proposed for communication and language. Communication is defined as the evolution of physical, biochemical, cellular, community, and technological information exchange. Language is defined as community communication whereby the information exchanged comprises evolving individual and group-constructed knowledge and beliefs, that are enacted, narrated, or otherwise conveyed by evolving rule-governed and meaningful symbol systems, that are grounded, interpreted, and used from w…Read more
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276Reticulate evolution underlies synergistic trait formation in human communities.Evolutionary Anthropology. forthcoming.This paper investigates how reticulate evolution contributes to a better understanding of human sociocultural evolution in general, and community formation in particular. Reticulate evolution is evolution as it occurs by means of symbiosis, symbiogenesis, lateral gene transfer, infective heredity, and hybridization. From these mechanisms and processes, we mainly zoom in on symbiosis and we investigate how it underlies the rise of (1) human, plant, animal, and machine interactions typical of agri…Read more
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186Macroevolutionary issues and approaches in evolutionary BiologyIn Emanuele Serrelli & Nathalie Gontier (eds.), Macroevolution: Explanation, Interpretation and Evidence, Springer. pp. 1-29. 2015.
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120On How Epistemology and Ontology Converge Through Evolution: The Applied Evolutionary Epistemological ApproachIn Wuppuluri Shyam & Francisco Antonio Dorio (eds.), The Map and the Territory: Exploring the Foundations of Science, Thought and Reality, Springer. pp. 533-569. 2018.We examine how insights made in socio-anthropological and evolutionary schools of thought necessitate us to reevaluate the classic philosophical distinction between epistemology and ontology. We adopt an applied evolutionary epistemological stance and demonstrate that both epistemology and ontology evolve. Epistemology is broadened to include all knowledge and information that all life forms evolve, and ontology encompasses all biologically informed realities that life builds. Through processes …Read more
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119Studying Language Evolution: From Ethology and Comparative Zoology to Social Primatology and Evolutionary PsychologyIn Marco Pina & Nathalie Gontier (eds.), The Evolution of Social Communication in Primates: A Multidisciplinary Approach, . pp. 1-30. 2014.
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117Symbiosis, History ofIn R. Kliman (ed.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology. pp. 272-281. 2016.
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117Situating physiology within evolutionary theory.Journal of Physiology. forthcoming.Traditionally defined as the science of the living, or as the field that beyond anatomical structure and bodily form studies functional organization and behaviour, physiology has long been excluded from evolutionary research. The main reason for this exclusion is that physiology has a presential and futuristic outlook on life, while evolutionary theory is traditionally defined as the study of natural history. In this paper, I re-evaluate these classic science divisions and situate physiology wit…Read more
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107The evolution of (proto-)language: Focus on mechanisms.Language Science 63 (63): 1-11. 2017.This article introduces a special issue on mechanisms in language evolution research. It describes processes relevant for the emergence of protolanguage and the transition thereof to modern language. Protolanguage is one of the key terms in the field of language evolution, used to designate a hypothesised intermediate stage in the emergence of language present in extinct hominins: qualitatively different from non-human primate communication in possessing some, but not all, of the features that c…Read more
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97Uniting micro- with macroevolution into an Extended Synthesis: Reintegrating life’s natural history into evolution studiesIn Emanuele Serrelli & Nathalie Gontier (eds.), Macroevolution: Explanation, Interpretation and Evidence, Springer. pp. 227-278. 2015.
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95Symbiogenesis, History ofIn R. Kliman (ed.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology, . pp. 261-271. 2016.
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95Introduction to evolutionary epistemology, language and cultureIn Nathalie Gontier, Jean Paul van Bendegem & Diederik Aerts (eds.), Evolutionary Epistemology, Language and Culture: A Non-Adaptationist, Systems Theoretical Approach, Springer. pp. 1-29. 2006.
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85Evolutionary epistemology and the origin and evolution of language: taking symbiogenesis seriouslyIn Nathalie Gontier, Jean Paul van Bendegem & Diederik Aerts (eds.), Evolutionary Epistemology, Language and Culture: A Non-Adaptationist, Systems Theoretical Approach, Springer. pp. 195-226. 2006.
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81Depicting the tree of life: The philosophical and historical roots of evolutionary tree diagrams.Evolution, Education and Outreach 3 (4): 515-38. 2011.
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79Combinatoriality and Compositionality in Everyday Primate SkillsInternational Journal of Primatology. forthcoming.Human language, hominin tool production modes, and multimodal communications systems of primates and other animals are currently well-studied for how they display compositionality or combinatoriality. In all cases, the former is defined as a kind of hierarchical nesting and the latter as a lack thereof. In this article, I extend research on combinatoriality and compositionality further to investigations of everyday primate skills. Daily locomotion modes as well as behaviors associated with subsi…Read more
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78Evolutionary epistemology as a scientific method: a new look upon the units and levels of evolution debateTheory in Biosciences 2 (129): 167-182. 2010.
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77Guest-Editorial Introduction: Converging Evolutionary Patterns in Life and CultureEvolutionary Biology 4 (43): 427-445. 2016.
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77info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion.
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74Selectionist Approaches in Evolutionary Linguistics: An Epistemological AnalysisInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 26 (1). 2012.Evolutionary linguistics is methodologically inspired by evolutionary psychology and the neo-Darwinian, selectionist approach. Language is claimed to have evolved by means of natural selection. The focus therefore lies not on how language evolved, but on finding out why language evolved. This latter question is answered by identifying the functional benefits and adaptive status that language provides, from which in turn selective pressures are deduced. This article analyses five of the most comm…Read more
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70The Plurality of Evolutionary WorldviewsBiosemiotics 14 (1): 35-40. 2021.Evolutionary biologists, evolutionary epistemologists, and biosemioticians have demonstrated that organisms not merely adapt to an external world, but that they actively construct their environmental, sociocultural, and cognitive niches. Denis Noble demonstrates that such is no different for those organisms that engage in science, and he lays bare several crucial assumptions that define the scientific dogmas and practices of evolutionary biology.
Areas of Specialization
Evolutionary Epistemology |
Philosophy of Biology |
Epistemology |
Philosophy of Language |