The Evolution of Mind and Morality: 19th-21st Centuries

Winter, 2007

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Instructo= r: Robert J. Richards = ; &n= bsp; Hist 35501, HiPSS 25901, = &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Phil 24300/34300 &n= bsp; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Psyc 28200/38200, CHSS 35900

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Course Assistants: P.-J. Benson and = Aidan Gray

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&= nbsp; This lecture-discussion course will focus on theories of the evolution of mind a= nd moral behavior. We will begin= with Spencer and Darwin’s conception of mental and moral evolution, and th= en jump to the last part of the 20^th century, examining the develop= ment of sociobiology. The last par= t of the course will concentrate on the central feature of evolutionary psycholo= gy, as that new discipline has come to be known, and on contemporary theories of the evolution of ethical behavior and understanding.

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I. Books for the course:

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The follo= wing books for the course are in the Seminary Co-operative Bookstore:

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Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (Pri= nceton)

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And as a recommended text (relevant parts are photocopied in course packet)

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Robert J. Richards, Darwin and= the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior (Chicago)

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There is = a course packet, which will be for sale in the Fishbein Center (Social Sciences, 205): Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

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= II. Course Requirements:

= &= nbsp; A. The texts for discussion must be thoroughly read, and everyone should be prepared to discuss the primary mat= erial. The recommended readings should al= so be examined, especially as aids for papers and discussion.

= &= nbsp; B. In the first half of the class, the instructor will provide short lectures to introduce topics drawn from the readings. In the second half = of each class, discussion will be initiated from one page papers that all stud= ents must have produced for that class. These papers—no longer than one page—should state some problem or central aspect of the reading for that class and then take a pro= or con position in respect to the material developed. These should not be summaries of t= he reading, but the articulation of an important thesis contained therein and a critical stance in respect of that thesis. Undergraduate students should send = the papers to the “drop box” on the Chalk site for the course; grad= uate students should send the papers to the instructor via email attachment. These papers should be sent by noo= n of the Monday before class. On t= hese and all papers, you should make sure your name is on them and that you indi= cate whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student.

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= &= nbsp; C. Two 8-10 page papers on the materi= al of the course, the first due on February 6 and the second on March 9 (on this latter date, the papers should be turned in by noon to the Fishbein Center, Social Sciences Research Building, room 205).

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= III. Office hours: TT, 1:15-3:00 p.m. (an= d by appointment), Social Science Research 205.=

= &= nbsp; Phone: 702-8348. Fax: 743-8949. Email: r-ri= chards@uchicago.edu. Webpage: http://home.uchicago.edu/~rjr6/.

I.<= span style=3D'font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> = Introduction: Sc= ope of the Considerations (Jan. 9)

A. = Recommended Reading: Robert J. Richards, “Dar= win on Mind, Morals, and Emotions,” Cambridge Companion to Darwin, ed. J. Hodge and = G. Radick (Cambridge: = Cambridge Universit= y Press, 2003).

II.= = Darwin and Huxle= y: Theory of Mind in Nature (Jan. 16)=

A. = Texts for Discus= sion:

1. = Darwin’s Descent of Man, chaps. 2, 19-21.=

2. = T. H. Huxley, “On the hypothesis that Animals are Automata, and Its History” (1874). In Selected Readings in Theories of the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

B. = Recommended Reading:

1. = Richards, Darwin a= nd the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), chap. 5 (pp. 185-206) and chap. 6. In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

2. = James Moore and Adrian Desmond, “Introduction” to the Penguin edition of the Descent.&nbs= p; In Selected Readings= in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

3.&n= bsp; = ; Richards, Review of Moore and Desmond’s edition, British Journal for the History of Science 39 (2006): 615-17. In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

III= . = Spencer, Darwin,= and Huxley: Evolution of Morality (Jan. 23)

A. = Texts for Discus= sion:

1. = Darwin, Desce= nt of Man, chaps. 3 and 5.

2. = Spencer, “Preparation in Biology,” in his The Study of Sociology (Michigan: University of Michigan [1873], 1961). In Selected Reading in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

3. = Thomas Henry Hux= ley, “Evolution and Ethics” (1893; esp. note 20). In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

4. = Recommend Reading: Richards, Darwin and the Emergence,” chaps. 5 (pp. 206-30), 7 (pp. 313-30). In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.<= /span>

IV.= = Sociobiology (Ja= n 30)

A. = Text for Discuss= ion:

1. = Edward O. Wilson= , Sociobiology: the New Synthesis (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1975), chaps. 1 and 27.<= /p>

2.&n= bsp; = ; Sociobiology Stu= dy Group of Science for the People, “Sociobiology–Another Biologic= al Determinism” (1976). In= Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

3. = Edward O. Wilson, “Academic Vigilantism and the Political Significance of Sociobiology” (1976). I= n Selected Readings in Evolution of Mind and Morality.

B. = Recommend Reading:

1. = Richards, Darwin a= nd the Emergence, chap. 11 (“Transformation of the Darwinian Image of Ma= n in the Twentieth Century”). In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

2. = Steven Pinker, <= i>The Blank Slate: the Modern Denial of Human Nature (= New York: Viking, 2002), chap. 6 (“Political Scientists”). In Selected Readings= in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

V.<= span style=3D'font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> = Evolutionary Psy= chology: the Foundations (Feb. 6)

A. = Texts for Discus= sion:

1. = John Tooby and L= eda Cosmides, “Conceptual Foundations of Evolutionary Psychology,” = in David Buss (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (H= oboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2005), pp. 5-67. In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

2. = Richard Samuels, “Evolutionary Psychology and the Massive Modularity Hypothesis” (1998). In Selected Readings in the Ev= olution of Mind and Morality.

3. = David Buller, “Mind,” Adapting Minds (Cambri= dge: MIT Press, 2005), chap. 2. In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

VI.= = Evolutionary Psychology: Mate Preferences and Attractiveness (Feb. 13)=

A. = Texts for Discus= sion:

1. = David Buss, R= 20;The Strategies of Human Mating,” = American Scientist 82 (1994): 238-49. In Selected = Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

2. = Bruce Ellis, “The Evolution of Sexual Attraction: Evaluative Mechanisms in Women” The Adapted Mind, chap. 6. In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

3. = Martin Voracek e= t al., “Shapely Centrefolds? Temporal Change in Body Measures:&n= bsp; Trend Analysis,” Briti= sh Medical Journal 325 (2002), 1447-1448; and (22 February & 27 May, 2003). In Selected Readings= in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

4. = David Buller, “Mating,” Adapting Mind= s (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005), chap. 5. In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

VII= . = Evolutionary Psychology: Social Adaptations for Reasoning. (Feb. 20)

A. = Texts for Discus= sion:

1. = Leda Cosmides an= d John Tooby, “Neurocognitive Adaptations Designed for Social Exchange,̶= 1; in in David Buss (ed.), The Handboo= k of Evolutionary Psychology (H= oboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2005), pp. = 584-627.

2. = Evolutionary Cog= nitive Psychology---Also added.

3. = David Buller, “Adaptation,” Adapting = Minds, chap. 3. In Selected Readings in the E= volution of Mind and Morality.

4. &nb= sp; Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, “Detecting Cheaters,” Trends in &= nbsp; Cognitive Sciences (November 2005).

VII= I. = General Evaluati= on of Evolutionary Psychology (Feb. 27)

A. = Texts for Discus= sion: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp;

1. = Steven Rose, = 220;Escaping Evolutionay Psychology,” Alas= , Poor Darwin (New York: Harmony Books, 2000). In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

2. = Anne Fausto-Ster= ling, “Beyond Difference: Fem= inism and Evolutionary Psychology,” in Alas, Poor Darwin. In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

3. = Anne Campbell, “The Essential Woman: Biophobia and the Study of Sex Differences,” in her A Mind of Her Own: The Evolutionary Psychology of Wom= en (Oxford:&= nbsp; Oxford University Press, 2002). In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

4.&n= bsp; = ; Edward Hagen, “Controversial Issues in Evolutionary Psychology,” in David Buss (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, chap. 3. In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

IX.= = Evolutionary Eth= ics (March 6)

A. = Texts for Discus= sion:

1. = Robert Boyd and Peter Richerson, “Cult= ural Evolution of Human Cooperation,” in their The Origin and Evolution of Cultures (Oxf= ord: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 251-81. In = Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

2.&n= bsp; = ; Frans de Waal, “Morality Evolved,” in his Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006),= pp. 1-58. In Selected Readings in the Ev= olution of Mind and Morality.

3.&n= bsp; = ; Philip Kitcher, “Ethics and Evolution: How to Get There from Here,”= in de Wall, Primates and Philosophers, pp. 120-39. In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

4.&n= bsp; = ; Robert J. Richar= ds, “A Defense of Evolutionary Ethics,” Darwin and the Emergence.= In Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.

B. = Recommend Reading:

1.&n= bsp; = ; Paul Farber, “Evolutionary Ethics since 1975,” in his The Temptations of Evolutionary Ethics (Los Angles: University of California Press, 1994). In Selected Readings in the Ev= olution of Mind and Morality.

2. = Peter Woolcock, “The Case Against Evolutionary Ethics Today,” in Biology and= the Foundation of Ethics, eds. Jane Maienschein= and Michael Ruse (Cambridge: C= ambridge University Press, 1999). In <= i>Selected Readings in the Evolution of Mind and Morality.