Criticism Of Evolutionary Psychology
From its beginning, evolutionary psychology (EP) has generated substantial controversy and criticism. Criticisms include 1) disputes about the testability of evolutionary hypotheses, 2) alternatives to some of the cognitive assumptions (such as massive modularity) frequently employed in evolutionary psychology, 3) claimed vagueness stemming from evolutionary assumptions (e.g. uncertainty about the environment of evolutionary adaptation, EEA), 4) differing stress on the importance of non-genetic and non-adaptive explanations, as well as 5) political and ethical issues.
Evolutionary psychologists respond by arguing that many of these criticisms are straw men, are based on an incorrect nature vs. nurture dichotomy, or are based on misunderstandings of the discipline.
Read more about Criticism Of Evolutionary Psychology: History of The Debate, Massive Modularity, Fear and Phobias As Innate or Learnt, Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness, Testability, Ethnocentrism, Reductionism and Determinism, Behaviors That Reduce Reproductive Success, Political and Ethical Issues
Famous quotes containing the words criticism, evolutionary and/or psychology:
“A friend of mine spoke of books that are dedicated like this: To my wife, by whose helpful criticism ... and so on. He said the dedication should really read: To my wife. If it had not been for her continual criticism and persistent nagging doubt as to my ability, this book would have appeared in Harpers instead of The Hardware Age.”
—Brenda Ueland (18911985)
“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”
—Stanley Weiser, U.S. screenwriter, and Oliver Stone. Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas)
“A large part of the popularity and persuasiveness of psychology comes from its being a sublimated spiritualism: a secular, ostensibly scientific way of affirming the primacy of spirit over matter.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)