Perplexed comments on Problems in evolutionary psychology - Less Wrong
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Comments (102)
Whoops, sorry. Now I feel like an idiot for reasons beyond squandering all my karma on this crusade.
I've read Segerstrale. I agree that the opposition to Sociobiology was unjustified. But I still claim that what Buller calls "EP" (as opposed to "ep") is pseudo-science - not because it tells us something unwelcome about ourselves, but rather because it tells us next to nothing about ourselves.
Ah! That may explain our disagreement. I don't know what standards are expected in sociology or psychology. I was thinking in terms of the standards expected in evolutionary biology. I thought I stated that in my initial comment.
See what you think of Delton, Robertson, and Kenrick's discussion of "Evolutionary Psychology" vs. evolutionary psychology:
See also Machery and Barrett's response:
What do I think? I think these are rhetorically effective critical reviews. Without reading Buller's book or any of the reviews by biologists and philosophers of biology, I have no idea whether they are fair reviews.
However, I have read enough by Cosmides, Tooby, and by their critics and defenders to form the opinion that what the critics say about their work is entirely fair.