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This book traces the history of evolutionary thought in psychology in an accessible and lively fashion. The book focuses on the rise of evolutionary theories begun by Lamarck and Darwin and the creation of the science of psychology. Evolutionary thought's banishment in the early 20th century by behaviorism and cultural anthropology is explained, along with its eventual re-emergence through ethology and sociobiology.
Evolutionary Thought in Psychology: A Brief History examines the complex and changing relations between psychology and evolutionary theory.
List of contents
Preface ix
CHAPTER 1 CURIOUS HISTORIES 1 CHAPTER 2 BEFORE DARWIN 9 Preliminaries 10
Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck 20
Herbert Spencer 24
CHAPTER 3 PSYCHOLOGY BORN AND THE DARWINIAN REVOLUTION 28 The New Science of Mind 28
The Darwinian Revolution 33
Darwin's Immediate Successors 38
Early Psychology in the United States 44
CHAPTER 4 THE NEAR DEATH OF DARWINISM IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 48 Evolution after Darwin 48
Behaviorism Takes Hold in Psychology 53
The Rise of Cultural Anthropology 62
CHAPTER 5 AN EXCEPTIONAL CASE 70 The Fundamental Problem 71
A New Factor in Evolution 77
Evolutionary Epistemology 83
Fall and Decline 88
CHAPTER 6 LESSONS TO BE LEARNED: ETHOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY 90 Classical Ethology 91
Sociobiology 105
CHAPTER 7 CONTEMPORARY EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 123 Evolutionary Theory from 1959 124
Necessary Precursors in the Main Discipline 129
Evolutionary Psychology Reborn 134
Which Side is Bringing Science into Disrepute? 148
A Natural Science of Culture 154
CHAPTER 8 FUTURE PROSPECTS 158 References 162
Index 166
About the author
Henry Plotkin is Professor of Psychobiology at University College London. He is the author of
Darwin Machines (1994),
Evolution in Mind (1997) and most recently
The Imagined World Made Real (2002)."
Summary
* First book to trace the history of evolutionary thinking in psychology from its beginnings to the present day in an accessible and lively fashion. * Focuses on the rise of evolutionary theories begun by Lamarck and Darwin and the creation of the science of psychology.
