Science

By around the age of 4 years, children can work out what people might know, think or believe based on what they say or do. This is called mindreading, which builds upon the human ability to infer the intentions of others.

The model of the human neurocognitive architecture proposed by evolutionary psychologists is based on the presumption that the demands of hunter-gatherer life generated a vast array of cognitive adaptations. Here we present an alternative model.

A history of the idea and a critique of reductionism. It appeared in Paul Edwards, ed., 'The Encyclopedia of Philosophy.'

This essay appeared in Philip P. Wiener, ed., 'Dictionary of the History of Ideas'.

Published in G. Levine, ed., 'One Culture: Essays in Science and Literature'. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1987, pp. 203-24.

This is the text of a television documentary in the series 'Late Great Victorians', BBC1, 1988. It was also published in Science as Culture no. 5: 71-86, 1989.

This essay appeared on David Kohn, ed., 'The Darwinian Heritage'. Princeton and Nova Pacifica, 1985, pp. 609-638.

This is a talk on the grand view of the human sciences, presented to CHEIRON, the European Society for the History of the Behavioural Sciences and reprinted in its Newsletter, Spring 1988, pp. 7-12.

The founding conference of the British Society for the Social Responsibility in Science in November 1970, was on the theme, 'The Social Impact of Modern Biology'. The conference was attended by a number of eminent scientists, e.g., Nobel Laureates James Watson, Jaques Monod, Maurice Wilkins; David Bohm, Jacob Bronowski, R.G. Edwards (of Steptoe and Edwards, the pioneers of 'test-tube babies'), as well as some radicals, Hilary and Steven Rose, John Beckwith. It was, perhaps, the last moment when radicals and posh scientists were relatively united. The talk was published in The Listener, 17 August 1972, pp. 202-5 and in Science as Culture no. 9: 110-24, 1990.

This was first presented to the Piaget Seminar, University of Geneva, about 1986 and published in Science as Culture (no. 16) 3: 375-403, 1993. It draws out the philosophical implications of 'Darwin's Metaphor' (Cambridge, 1985), in particular, the role of metaphorical and teleological language in Darwin.

A paper delivered to the Eleventh International Congress of the History of Science, Warsaw, August 1965 and published in Actes du Xle Congres International d'Histoire des Sciences Warsaw: Ossolineum, 1967, vol. 2, pp. 273-78.

A paper contributed to a conference on 'The Social Impact of Modern Biology'. It appeared in Science Studies 1: 177-296, 1971.

An online paper on mind, brain, and adaptation in the nineteenth century. It was published in Isis 59: 251-68, 1968.

This essay first appeared as an Open University Course Unit for 'Science and Belief: from Darwin to Einstein', Block VI: Problems in the Biological and Human Sciences. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1981, pp. 63-110.

An excerpt from Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness by Donald R. Griffin, the creator of the field of cognitive ethology.

These results support the inference of significant behavioral differences between Neanderthals and the Skhul/Qafzeh hominids and indicate that a significant shift in human manipulative behaviors was associated with the earliest stages of the emergence of modern humans.

Spencer is so grandiose that it is hard to summarize his ideas, yet he was one of the most influential thinkers in nineteenth-century Britain, and his ideas were an inspiration around the world. His version of evolution was utterly generalised in all the ways Darwin tried to be circumspect. The organic analogies which Spencer developed are the foundation-stones for the widespread idea of functionalism across the biomedical and human sciences, extending to architecture, systems theory, cybernetics and information theory. The essay was reprinted in a collection from the journal: G. Marsden, ed., Victorian Values. Longman, 1990.

This essay appeared in Marxism Today 26 (no.4), April 1982, pp. 20-22.

How much do we share with the birds of the air and the beasts of the field? Article by John Wilson at Christianity Today.

'The Limits of Human Nature' was the title of the London Institute of Contemporary Arts winter lecture series for 1971-72. The distinguished group of contributors, included Alan Ryan, Arthur Koestler, David Bohm, Raymond Williams and John Maynard Smith. This contribution was published in J. Benthall, ed., 'The Limits of Human Nature' (Allen Lane, 1973), pp. 235-74.

A paper was presented to a conference on 'Malthus, Medicine and Science' organised by Roy Porter at the Wellcome Institute, London, on 20 March 1998.

This essay moves from pure ideology about changing human nature to using biofeedback as a transitional topic to spelling out the desiderata for treating human nature as a historical project.

Socio-political overview of the circumstances leading to the development of Evolutionary Psychology as distinct from Sociobiology, by Val Dusek. This web page is associated with the Science-as-Culture mailing list and journal.

A paper that first appeared in History of Science 2: 1-51, 1966.

This article is largely historical, but the issues remain timely.

Charles Darwin grew up in Shrewsbury, Shropshire and attended Shrewsbury School for seven years. The school held a Millennium Conference on 'Darwinism and Ethics for the Next Millennium' on 16 October 1999. Papers were given by Mary Midgley, Matt Ridley, Colin Tudge and Robert M. Young.

Dumbing down? Don't believe it. Scientists have proved we are smarter now than ever before, largely because we watch TV, surf the net, and spend hours chatting to friends.

Andrew Brown explains why 'Introducing Evolutionary Psychology', the latest in Icon Books' popular series of comic books on important subjects, has been withdrawn from sale while 10,000 stickers are pasted over the face of Steven Rose.

A profile of Helena Cronin.

The relationship between aging and the risk of producing offspring with gene-influenced illnesses.

Applied to business, as Nigel Nicholson does in his book Managing the Human Animal, evolutionary psychology suggests that most organizational practice runs directly against the grain of human programming.

Is psychology frozen in the Pleistocene era? Hilary and Steven Rose are sure it must have evolved since then.

As two of the world's great Darwinists prepare to debate whether science is killing the soul, Tim Radford asks if natural selection is the key to life, the universe, and everything.

Cognitive scientists often say that the mind is the software of the brain. This chapter is about what this claim means.

Bottlenose dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror, an advanced intellectual ability observed previously only in humans and apes.

The British Medical Journal publishes a special edition "putting genetics into perspective".

DNA is revealing that taming animals was not a simple process.

A new study by Willie J. Swanson and colleagues provides evidence of sperm competition and sexual conflict.

Richard Thaler has led a revolution in the study of economics by understanding the strange ways people behave with their money.

When it comes to emotions men and women are equally expressive, but men display most of their joy, disgust or other sentiments in the lower left quadrant of their face. Women, on the other hand, show their emotions across their entire countenance.

Neanderthals were predators.

A theory concerning the integration of ethics and science using cybernetic theory as a logical foundation.

US researchers say everyone may be born with perfect pitch to help them learn the skills of language.

Long-term relationships are fundamentally dishonest. And it's all women's fault, new research suggests.

A study of African elephants reveals that dominant females build up a social memory as they get older, helping the herd to survive.

Music, particularly Mozart, could have a therapeutic effect on epilepsy, say scientists.

Article describes how the stresses and strains that afflict humans are evident in baboon societies. Also suggests that both species share the long-term health effects.

Chris Horrie provides a critique of the discipline in this BBC News article.

Online paper by David Buller.

Paper by William Baum.