Evolutionary Thought in Psychology A Brief History

by Plotkin, Henry

• ISBN13: 9781405113786
• ISBN10: 1405113782
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-07-23
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

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.

Author Biography

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)."

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
CHAPTER 1 CURIOUS HISTORIES	1	(8)
CHAPTER 2 BEFORE DARWIN	9	(19)
Preliminaries	10	(10)
Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck	20	(4)
Herbert Spencer	24	(4)
CHAPTER 3 PSYCHOLOGY BORN AND THE DARWINIAN REVOLUTION	28	(20)
The New Science of Mind	28	(5)
The Darwinian Revolution	33	(5)
Darwin's Immediate Successors	38	(6)
Early Psychology in the United States	44	(4)
CHAPTER 4 THE NEAR DEATH OF DARWINISM IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES	48	(22)
Evolution after Darwin	48	(5)
Behaviorism Takes Hold in Psychology	53	(9)
The Rise of Cultural Anthropology	62	(8)
CHAPTER 5 AN EXCEPTIONAL CASE	70	(20)
The Fundamental Problem	71	(6)
A New Factor in Evolution	77	(6)
Evolutionary Epistemology	83	(5)
Fall and Decline	88	(2)
CHAPTER 6 LESSONS TO BE LEARNED: ETHOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY	90	(33)
Classical Ethology	91	(14)
Sociobiology	105	(18)
CHAPTER 7 CONTEMPORARY EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY	123	(35)
Evolutionary Theory from 1959	124	(5)
Necessary Precursors in the Main Discipline	129	(5)
Evolutionary Psychology Reborn	134	(14)
Which Side is Bringing Science into Disrepute?	148	(6)
A Natural Science of Culture	154	(4)
CHAPTER 8 FUTURE PROSPECTS	158	(4)
References	162	(4)
Index	166