Darwin Machines And The Nature Of Knowledge

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Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge

Author : Henry Plotkin
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674192812
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (928 download)

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Book Synopsis Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge by : Henry Plotkin

Download or read book Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge written by Henry Plotkin and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn and survive. Behind this simple equation lies a revolution in the study of knowledge, which has left the halls of philosophy for the labs of science. This book offers a cogent account of what such a move does to our understanding of the nature of learning, rationality, and intelligence. Bringing together evolutionary biology, psychology, and philosophy, Henry Plotkin presents a new science of knowledge, one that traces an unbreakable link between instinct and our ability to know. Contrary to the modern liberal idea that knowledge is something derived from experience, this science shows us that what we know is what our nature allows us to know, what our instincts tell us we must know. Since our ability to know our world depends primarily on what we call intelligence, intelligence must be understood as an extension of instinct. Drawing on contemporary evolutionary theory, especially notions of hierarchical structure and universal Darwinism, Plotkin tells us that the capacity for knowledge, which is what makes us human, is deeply rooted in our biology and, in a special sense, is shared by all living things. This leads to a discussion of animal and human intelligence as well as an appraisal of what an instinct-based capacity for knowledge might mean to our understanding of language, reasoning, emotion, and culture. The result is nothing less than a three-dimensional theory of our nature, in which all knowledge is adaptation and all adaptation is a specific form of knowledge.

Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge

Author : Henry C. Plotkin
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780140230925
Total Pages : 269 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (39 download)

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Book Synopsis Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge by : Henry C. Plotkin

Download or read book Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge written by Henry C. Plotkin and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together evolutionary biology, psychology, and philosophy, Henry Plotkin presents a new science of knowledge, one that traces an unbreakable link between instinct and our ability to know.

Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge

Author : Henry C. Plotkin
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 269 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (128 download)

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Book Synopsis Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge by : Henry C. Plotkin

Download or read book Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge written by Henry C. Plotkin and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Second Nature

Author : Gerald M. Edelman
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300133650
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis Second Nature by : Gerald M. Edelman

Download or read book Second Nature written by Gerald M. Edelman and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-01 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Burgeoning advances in brain science are opening up new perspectives on how we acquire knowledge. Indeed, it is now possible to explore consciousness - the very centre of human concern - by scientific means. In this illuminating book, Dr. Gerald M. Edelman offers a new theory of knowledge based on striking scientific findings about how the brain works. And he addresses the related compelling question: does the latest research imply that all knowledge can be reduced to scientific description? Edelman's brain-based approach to knowledge has rich implications for our understanding of creativity, of the normal and abnormal functioning of the brain, and of the connections among the different ways we have of knowing. While the gulf between science and the humanities and their respective views of the world has seemed enormous in the past, the author shows that their differences can be dissolved by considering their origins in brain functions. He foresees a day when brain-based devices will be conscious, and he reflects on this and other fascinating ideas about how we come to know the world and ourselves.

Rethinking Knowledge

Author : Carlo Cellucci
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319532375
Total Pages : 432 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (195 download)

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Book Synopsis Rethinking Knowledge by : Carlo Cellucci

Download or read book Rethinking Knowledge written by Carlo Cellucci and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-03-29 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph addresses the question of the increasing irrelevance of philosophy, which has seen scientists as well as philosophers concluding that philosophy is dead and has dissolved into the sciences. It seeks to answer the question of whether or not philosophy can still be fruitful and what kind of philosophy can be such. The author argues that from its very beginning philosophy has focused on knowledge and methods for acquiring knowledge. This view, however, has generally been abandoned in the last century with the belief that, unlike the sciences, philosophy makes no observations or experiments and requires only thought. Thus, in order for philosophy to once again be relevant, it needs to return to its roots and focus on knowledge as well as methods for acquiring knowledge. Accordingly, this book deals with several questions about knowledge that are essential to this view of philosophy, including mathematical knowledge. Coverage examines such issues as the nature of knowledge; plausibility and common sense; knowledge as problem solving; modeling scientific knowledge; mathematical objects, definitions, diagrams; mathematics and reality; and more. This monograph presents a new approach to philosophy, epistemology, and the philosophy of mathematics. It will appeal to graduate students and researchers with interests in the role of knowledge, the analytic method, models of science, and mathematics and reality.

From Darwinian Metaphysics Towards Understanding the Evolution of Evolutionary Mechanisms

Author : Momme von Sydow
Publisher : Universitätsverlag Göttingen
ISBN 13 : 3863950062
Total Pages : 502 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (639 download)

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Book Synopsis From Darwinian Metaphysics Towards Understanding the Evolution of Evolutionary Mechanisms by : Momme von Sydow

Download or read book From Darwinian Metaphysics Towards Understanding the Evolution of Evolutionary Mechanisms written by Momme von Sydow and published by Universitätsverlag Göttingen. This book was released on 2012 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Although Charles Darwin predicted that his theory 'would give zest to ... metaphysics, ' even he would be astonished at the variety of paths his theory has in fact taken. This holds with regard to both gene-Darwinism, a purified Darwinian approach biologizing the social sciences, and process- Darwinism found in the disciplines of psychology, philosophy of science, and economics. Although Darwinism is often linked to highly confirmed biological theories, some of its interpretations seem to profit from tautological claims as well, where scientific reputation cloaks ideological usage. This book discusses central tenets of Darwinism historically as well as systematically, for example the history of different Darwinian paradigms, the units-of-selection debate, and the philosophical problem of induction as basis of metaphysical Darwinism. Crucially the book addresses the Darwinian claim that evolution is governed by an immutable and unrelentingly cruel law of natural selection. Paradoxically, Darwins theory is a static, non-evolutionary theory of evolution. The current book sketches the historical background and provides suggestions that may help to replace this approach by the idea of an evolution of evolutionary mechanisms (see Escher's 'Drawing Hands' on the cover). This view even suggests a tendency to overcome the blindness of the knowledge acquisition of primordial Darwinian processes and allows for some freedom from external environments. This book first develops a radically Darwinian approach, then criticises this approach from within. Even Darwinism has a tendency to transcend itself. Although the book addresses several empirical issues, it does not challenge particular findings. Instead it builds on many insights of Darwinism and provides a proposal for interpreting known empirical evidence in a different light. It should help pave the way for further developing an understanding of nature that transcends Darwinian metaphysics"--Publisher's description.

Darwin's Unfinished Symphony

Author : Kevin N. Lala
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691182817
Total Pages : 464 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Darwin's Unfinished Symphony by : Kevin N. Lala

Download or read book Darwin's Unfinished Symphony written by Kevin N. Lala and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humans possess an extraordinary capacity for culture, from the arts and language to science and technology. But how did the human mind—and the uniquely human ability to devise and transmit culture—evolve from its roots in animal behavior? Darwin’s Unfinished Symphony presents a captivating new theory of human cognitive evolution. This compelling and accessible book reveals how culture is not just the magnificent end product of an evolutionary process that produced a species unlike all others—it is also the key driving force behind that process. Kevin N. Lala tells the story of the painstaking fieldwork, the key experiments, the false leads, and the stunning scientific breakthroughs that led to this new understanding of how culture transformed human evolution. It is the story of how Darwin’s intellectual descendants picked up where he left off and took up the challenge of providing a scientific account of the evolution of the human mind.

Methodology, Theory, and Knowledge in the Managerial and Organizational Sciences

Author : Eliezer Geisler
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313035474
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Methodology, Theory, and Knowledge in the Managerial and Organizational Sciences by : Eliezer Geisler

Download or read book Methodology, Theory, and Knowledge in the Managerial and Organizational Sciences written by Eliezer Geisler and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1999-06-30 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Geisler argues that the over-reliance on co-variation techniques and statistical methods, instead of process approach and in-depth analysis, produces meaningless knowledge in the managerial and organizational sciences, and indeed throughout all the social sciences. He offers instead a new and different approach, based on the notion of what he calls dynamic morphologies—an architecture of slicing complex phenomena. This way it is possible to explain many inconsistencies in research findings, and to find a cohesive, systematic outlook on research, research design, and knowledge creation. Intellectually challenging and following in the footsteps of Kuhn, Argyris, and Popper, Geisler's approach is frankly revolutionary in research design and contains its own notions, terms, and nomenclature. A provocative discussion for academics and others well trained in the organizational, managerial, and social sciences. Geisler's dynamic morphologies provide a means to research complex phenomena and gain knowledge about them. They are composed of a chain of events, combined logically and temporally, and a method by which this process is studied. Geisler also contends that knowledge in the organizational and managerial sciences is only viable when it describes and explains the complex, higher-order phenomena. Therefore, theory building and research in these fields must be linked to higher-order constructs and the phenomena that they attempt to explain. This is the central notion of amplitude that Geisler introduces and describes. His book also criticizes the evolutionary epistemology view of knowledge creation and contends that knowledge in all of these fields of study in general is not evolutionary, but instead, cumulative and expansive.

The Meme Machine

Author : Susan Blackmore
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191574619
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

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Book Synopsis The Meme Machine by : Susan Blackmore

Download or read book The Meme Machine written by Susan Blackmore and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2000-03-16 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humans are extraordinary creatures, with the unique ability among animals to imitate and so copy from one another ideas, habits, skills, behaviours, inventions, songs, and stories. These are all memes, a term first coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Memes, like genes, are replicators, and this enthralling book is an investigation of whether this link between genes and memes can lead to important discoveries about the nature of the inner self. Confronting the deepest questions about our inner selves, with all our emotions, memories, beliefs, and decisions, Susan Blackmore makes a compelling case for the theory that the inner self is merely an illusion created by the memes for the sake of replication.

Of Literature and Knowledge

Author : Peter Swirski
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134104413
Total Pages : 207 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (341 download)

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Book Synopsis Of Literature and Knowledge by : Peter Swirski

Download or read book Of Literature and Knowledge written by Peter Swirski and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-02-12 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Of Literature and Knowledge looks ... like an important advance in this new and very important subject... literature is about to become even more interesting." – Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University. Framed by the theory of evolution, this colourful and engaging volume presents a new understanding of the mechanisms by which we transfer information from narrative make-believe to real life. Ranging across game theory and philosophy of science, as well as poetics and aesthetics, Peter Swirski explains how literary fictions perform as a systematic tool of enquiry, driven by thought experiments. Crucially, he argues for a continuum between the cognitive tools employed by scientists, philosophers and scholars or writers of fiction. The result is a provocative study of our talent and propensity for creating imaginary worlds, different from the world we know yet invaluable to our understanding of it. Of Literature and Knowledge is a noteworthy challenge to contemporary critical theory, arguing that by bridging the gap between literature and science we might not only reinvigorate literary studies but, above all, further our understanding of literature.

The Philosophy of Science

Author : Sahotra Sarkar
Publisher : Psychology Press
ISBN 13 : 0415939275
Total Pages : 1012 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (159 download)

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Book Synopsis The Philosophy of Science by : Sahotra Sarkar

Download or read book The Philosophy of Science written by Sahotra Sarkar and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 1012 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first in-depth reference to the field that combines scientific knowledge with philosophical inquiry, this encyclopedia brings together a team of leading scholars to provide nearly 150 entries on the essential concepts in the philosophy of science. The areas covered include biology, chemistry, epistemology and metaphysics, physics, psychology and mind, the social sciences, and key figures in the combined studies of science and philosophy. (Midwest).

The SAGE Handbook of the Philosophy of Social Sciences

Author : Ian C Jarvie
Publisher : SAGE Publications
ISBN 13 : 1847874002
Total Pages : 773 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (478 download)

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Book Synopsis The SAGE Handbook of the Philosophy of Social Sciences by : Ian C Jarvie

Download or read book The SAGE Handbook of the Philosophy of Social Sciences written by Ian C Jarvie and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2011-03-14 with total page 773 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this exciting Handbook, Ian Jarvie and Jesús Zamora-Bonilla have put together a wide-ranging and authoritative overview of the main philosophical currents and traditions at work in the social sciences today. Starting with the history of social scientific thought, this Handbook sets out to explore that core fundamentals of social science practice, from issues of ontology and epistemology to issues of practical method. Along the way it investigates such notions as paradigm, empiricism, postmodernism, naturalism, language, agency, power, culture, and causality.

Darwin Among the Machines

Author : George Dyson
Publisher : Penguin UK
ISBN 13 : 0718196953
Total Pages : 348 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (181 download)

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Book Synopsis Darwin Among the Machines by : George Dyson

Download or read book Darwin Among the Machines written by George Dyson and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2012-03-29 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Full of historical anecdotes . . . but this is much more than a history book. [George Dyson] weaves his threads together for a purpose. Using voices of the past and present, he describes a fresh and sometimes startling viewpoint of the emerging relationship between nature and machines. From vignettes about Olaf Stapledon, George Boole, John von Neumann, and Samuel Butler, a larger story develops in which the twin processes of intelligence and evolution are inseparably intertwined' Danny Hillis, Wired

New Perspectives on Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Author : Geoff Cockfield
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9781781959916
Total Pages : 184 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (599 download)

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Book Synopsis New Perspectives on Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments by : Geoff Cockfield

Download or read book New Perspectives on Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments written by Geoff Cockfield and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2007-11-27 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'New Perspectives on Adam Smith's "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" is a comprehensive study of Smith's ideas. It brings together themes and methodologies from a variety of fields including politics, sociology, intellectual history, history of science and evolutionary psychology.

Knowledge and Ignorance

Author : Folke Dovring
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1567507484
Total Pages : 178 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (675 download)

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Book Synopsis Knowledge and Ignorance by : Folke Dovring

Download or read book Knowledge and Ignorance written by Folke Dovring and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1998-03-25 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dovring explores the limits of science as causes of ignorance. Some topics examined in these essays are problems with our ways of knowing and the impact of emotion on objectivity. He argues that reality consists of designs—of things and processes. While most designs we might think of cannot exist, those that can exist add up to a tool box of creation which contains the detailed laws of nature, many of them synergisms. Reality must conform to this web of necessities, hence the danger of unchecked virtual reality. These lines of thought are then applied to evolution as creation and history. In a final essay, Dovring explores topics upon which science should concentrate. This book will be of interest to scientists as well as the lay public interested in the theory of science and questions of truth and faith.

Darwin's Cathedral

Author : David Sloan Wilson
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226901378
Total Pages : 277 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (269 download)

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Book Synopsis Darwin's Cathedral by : David Sloan Wilson

Download or read book Darwin's Cathedral written by David Sloan Wilson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-09-16 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the great intellectual battles of modern times is between evolution and religion. Until now, they have been considered completely irreconcilable theories of origin and existence. David Sloan Wilson's Darwin's Cathedral takes the radical step of joining the two, in the process proposing an evolutionary theory of religion that shakes both evolutionary biology and social theory at their foundations. The key, argues Wilson, is to think of society as an organism, an old idea that has received new life based on recent developments in evolutionary biology. If society is an organism, can we then think of morality and religion as biologically and culturally evolved adaptations that enable human groups to function as single units rather than mere collections of individuals? Wilson brings a variety of evidence to bear on this question, from both the biological and social sciences. From Calvinism in sixteenth-century Geneva to Balinese water temples, from hunter-gatherer societies to urban America, Wilson demonstrates how religions have enabled people to achieve by collective action what they never could do alone. He also includes a chapter considering forgiveness from an evolutionary perspective and concludes by discussing how all social organizations, including science, could benefit by incorporating elements of religion. Religious believers often compare their communities to single organisms and even to insect colonies. Astoundingly, Wilson shows that they might be literally correct. Intended for any educated reader, Darwin's Cathedral will change forever the way we view the relations among evolution, religion, and human society.

Animal Cognition in Nature

Author : Russell P. Balda
Publisher : Academic Press
ISBN 13 : 008052723X
Total Pages : 480 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (85 download)

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Book Synopsis Animal Cognition in Nature by : Russell P. Balda

Download or read book Animal Cognition in Nature written by Russell P. Balda and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 1998-09-09 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, the editors bring together results from studies on all kinds of animals to show how thinking on many behaviors as truly cognitive processes can help us to understand the biology involved. Taking ideas and observations from the while range of research into animal behavior leads to unexpected and stimulating ideas. A space is created where the work of field ecologists, evolutionary ecologists and experimental psychologists can interact and contribute to a greater understanding of complex animal behavior, and to the development of a new and coherent field of study.