Work

Decoupling Design from Darwinian and Skinnerian Selection

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Darwin explained how seemingly purposeful and foresightful design could be decoupled from natural selection. Skinner followed suit for selection by reinforcement. Together with cultural selection, these three selectionist ideas represent today's prime pillars of evolutionary thinking in biological and behavioral science. Nevertheless, controversy continues because mentalism still creeps into the efforts of psychologists, biologists, and philosophers to meet the interpretive challenges posed by creative behaviors and innovations. A prime problem may be the unfortunate connotations accompanying the term "selection."
Institution: University of Iowa
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,090
OpenAlex ID: W4414195606
FWCI: 3.626
Cites: 47
Cited by: 1
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