Università Roma Tre

The course is developed in two parts. In the first part, the characteristics and limits of evolutionary explanations will be addressed, especially in the frameworks of ethology, sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, and in relation to the principles of modern and extended synthesis.
In the second part of the course, the problem of how to explain, from an evolutionary point of view, the behavioural and mental diversity of human beings will be addressed, mainly with respect to their capacity for social interaction and cultural learning.

The teacher will provide tests to the students.

Students not attending classes, and those who lack preliminary knowledge of the principles of evolutionary theory should also read Rosenberg, Alex, and Daniel W. McShea. Philosophy of biology: A contemporary introduction. Routledge, 2007.

1. Dupré, John. Introduction and chapter 3 How much must evolution explain? Eds. (2001) Human Nature and the Limits of Science. Oxford University Press.

2. Griffiths, Paul E. "Ethology, Sociobiology, and Evolutionary Psychology." A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology (2007): 393-414.

3. Jablonka, Eva, and Marion J. Lamb. "Soft inheritance: challenging the modern synthesis." Genetics and Molecular Biology 31 (2008): 389-395.

4. Stotz, Karola. "Human nature and cognitive–developmental niche construction." Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 9 (2010): 483

5. Laland, Kevin, et al. "Does evolutionary theory need a rethink?." Nature 514.7521 (2014): 161-164.

6. Mesoudi, Alex. "Cultural evolution: Integrating psychology, evolution and culture." Current Opinion in Psychology 7 (2016): 17-22.

7. Whiten, Andrew, and Erica van de Waal. "Social learning, culture and the ‘socio-cultural brain’of human and non-human primates." Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 82 (2017): 58-75.

8. Heyes, Cecilia. "Précis of cognitive gadgets: The cultural evolution of thinking." Behavioral and Brain Sciences 42 (2019): e169.

9. Roige, Aida, and Peter Carruthers. "Cognitive instincts versus cognitive gadgets: A fallacy." Mind & Language 34.4 (2019): 540-550.

10. Tramacere, Antonella, and Fabrizio Mafessoni. "Cognitive twists: The coevolution of learning and genes in human cognition." Review of Philosophy and Psychology (2022): 1-29.