Andreas De Block
Biographic Data
| ID | 461399 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andreas De Block |
| GIVEN NAMES | Andreas |
| FAMILY NAME | De Block |
| SIGNATURE | DE BLOCK A |
| AFFILIATIONS | KU Leuven |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7927-8210 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
De (On)zin Van Filosofie in Tijden Van Crisis
status: Published
Of Maybugs and Men: A History and Philosophy of the Sciences of Homosexuality
Responsible Dissemination in Sexual Orientation Research: The Case of the AI “Gaydar”
A recent controversy about neural networks allegedly capable of detecting a person’s sexual orientation raises the question of whether all research on homosexuality should be permitted. This paper considers two arguments for limits to such research, and concludes that there are good reasons to limit at least the dissemination of applied research on the etiology of homosexuality. The paper then briefly sketches how this could work, and looks at th…
A plea for an experimental philosophy of medicine
Ideological diversity, hostility, and discrimination in philosophy
Members of the field of philosophy have, just as other people, political convictions or, as psychologists call them, ideologies. How are different ideologies distributed and perceived in the field? Using the familiar distinction between the political left and right, we surveyed an international sample of 794 subjects in philosophy. We found that survey participants clearly leaned left (75%), while right-leaning individuals (14%) and moderates (11…
Beware of the Philosophical Expert
Many philosophers and lay people believe that philosophy has an important role to play in times of societal crisis. In this contribution reasons are given to doubt the supposed societal relevance of philosophy
Is Cultural Fitness Hopelessly Confused
Fitness is a central concept in evolutionary theory. Just as it is central to biological evolution, so, it seems, it should be central to cultural evolutionary theory (CET). But importing the biological fitness concept to CET is no straightforward task—there are many features unique to cultural evolution that make this difficult. This has led some theorists to argue that there are fundamental problems with cultural fitness that render it hopeless…
Lesser-Known Theories of Homosexuality
Decreased Reproductive Success
Philosophy and the Biology of Male Homosexuality
This paper is a review of how biological as well as other scientific theories, concepts and findings have been used to answer philosophical questions regarding the nature of male homosexuality. We argue that while these sciences are certainly relevant for present philosophical debates, few of the different philosophical issues surrounding male homosexuality can be settled by science alone. In the first section, we introduce a number of various es…
Pathologizing Sexual Deviance: A History
This article provides a historical perspective on how both American and European psychiatrists have conceptualized and categorized sexual deviance throughout the past 150 years. During this time, quite a number of sexual preferences, desires, and behaviors have been pathologized and depathologized at will, thus revealing psychiatry's constant struggle to distinguish mental disorder--in other words, the "perversions," "sexual deviations," or "para…
Why Darwinians Should Not Be Afraid of Mary Douglas—And Vice Versa: The Case of Disgust
Evolutionary psychology and human sociobiology often reject the mere possibility of symbolic causality. Conversely, theories in which symbolic causality plays a central role tend to be both anti-nativist and anti-evolutionary. This article sketches how these apparent scientific rivals can be reconciled in the study of disgust. First, we argue that there are no good philosophical or evolutionary reasons to assume that symbolic causality is impossi…
The evolutionary turn in psychiatry: A historical overview
Ever since Darwin, psychiatrists have been tempted to put evolutionary theory to use in their efforts to understand and explain various aspects of mental disorders. Following a number of pivotal developments in the history of evolutionary thought, including degeneration theory, ethology and the modern synthesis, this introductory paper provides an overview of the many trends and schools in the history of ‘psychiatric Darwinism’ and ‘evolutionary …
Why mental disorders are just mental dysfunctions (and nothing more): Some Darwinian arguments
Applied Darwinism. Lessons from the History of Applied Psychoanalysis
Over the last two decades, evolutionary psychology has generated much debate among psychologists and philosophers. Some consider it a challenging new way to think about human behavior. Others criticize evolutionary psychology for being a rubber ideology, lacking any scientific standard, and using a pseudo‐scientific terminology. In this paper I argue that a heuristic analogy can be made between the field of applied psychoanalysis and the current …
Pathologizing Sexual Deviance: A History
This article provides a historical perspective on how both American and European psychiatrists have conceptualized and categorized sexual deviance throughout the past 150 years. During this time, quite a number of sexual preferences, desires, and behaviors have been pathologized and depathologized at will, thus revealing psychiatry's constant struggle to distinguish mental disorder--in other words, the "perversions," "sexual deviations," or "para…
Is Cultural Fitness Hopelessly Confused
Fitness is a central concept in evolutionary theory. Just as it is central to biological evolution, so, it seems, it should be central to cultural evolutionary theory (CET). But importing the biological fitness concept to CET is no straightforward task—there are many features unique to cultural evolution that make this difficult. This has led some theorists to argue that there are fundamental problems with cultural fitness that render it hopeless…
Why Darwinians Should Not Be Afraid of Mary Douglas—And Vice Versa: The Case of Disgust
Evolutionary psychology and human sociobiology often reject the mere possibility of symbolic causality. Conversely, theories in which symbolic causality plays a central role tend to be both anti-nativist and anti-evolutionary. This article sketches how these apparent scientific rivals can be reconciled in the study of disgust. First, we argue that there are no good philosophical or evolutionary reasons to assume that symbolic causality is impossi…
Why mental disorders are just mental dysfunctions (and nothing more): Some Darwinian arguments
Applied Darwinism. Lessons from the History of Applied Psychoanalysis
Over the last two decades, evolutionary psychology has generated much debate among psychologists and philosophers. Some consider it a challenging new way to think about human behavior. Others criticize evolutionary psychology for being a rubber ideology, lacking any scientific standard, and using a pseudo‐scientific terminology. In this paper I argue that a heuristic analogy can be made between the field of applied psychoanalysis and the current …
Why mental disorders are just mental dysfunctions (and nothing more): Some Darwinian arguments
The evolutionary turn in psychiatry: A historical overview
Ever since Darwin, psychiatrists have been tempted to put evolutionary theory to use in their efforts to understand and explain various aspects of mental disorders. Following a number of pivotal developments in the history of evolutionary thought, including degeneration theory, ethology and the modern synthesis, this introductory paper provides an overview of the many trends and schools in the history of ‘psychiatric Darwinism’ and ‘evolutionary …
Why Darwinians Should Not Be Afraid of Mary Douglas—And Vice Versa: The Case of Disgust
Evolutionary psychology and human sociobiology often reject the mere possibility of symbolic causality. Conversely, theories in which symbolic causality plays a central role tend to be both anti-nativist and anti-evolutionary. This article sketches how these apparent scientific rivals can be reconciled in the study of disgust. First, we argue that there are no good philosophical or evolutionary reasons to assume that symbolic causality is impossi…
Pathologizing Sexual Deviance: A History
This article provides a historical perspective on how both American and European psychiatrists have conceptualized and categorized sexual deviance throughout the past 150 years. During this time, quite a number of sexual preferences, desires, and behaviors have been pathologized and depathologized at will, thus revealing psychiatry's constant struggle to distinguish mental disorder--in other words, the "perversions," "sexual deviations," or "para…
Philosophy and the Biology of Male Homosexuality
This paper is a review of how biological as well as other scientific theories, concepts and findings have been used to answer philosophical questions regarding the nature of male homosexuality. We argue that while these sciences are certainly relevant for present philosophical debates, few of the different philosophical issues surrounding male homosexuality can be settled by science alone. In the first section, we introduce a number of various es…
Lesser-Known Theories of Homosexuality
Decreased Reproductive Success
Is Cultural Fitness Hopelessly Confused
Fitness is a central concept in evolutionary theory. Just as it is central to biological evolution, so, it seems, it should be central to cultural evolutionary theory (CET). But importing the biological fitness concept to CET is no straightforward task—there are many features unique to cultural evolution that make this difficult. This has led some theorists to argue that there are fundamental problems with cultural fitness that render it hopeless…
Ideological diversity, hostility, and discrimination in philosophy
Members of the field of philosophy have, just as other people, political convictions or, as psychologists call them, ideologies. How are different ideologies distributed and perceived in the field? Using the familiar distinction between the political left and right, we surveyed an international sample of 794 subjects in philosophy. We found that survey participants clearly leaned left (75%), while right-leaning individuals (14%) and moderates (11…
Beware of the Philosophical Expert
Many philosophers and lay people believe that philosophy has an important role to play in times of societal crisis. In this contribution reasons are given to doubt the supposed societal relevance of philosophy
A plea for an experimental philosophy of medicine
De (On)zin Van Filosofie in Tijden Van Crisis
status: Published
Of Maybugs and Men: A History and Philosophy of the Sciences of Homosexuality
Responsible Dissemination in Sexual Orientation Research: The Case of the AI “Gaydar”
A recent controversy about neural networks allegedly capable of detecting a person’s sexual orientation raises the question of whether all research on homosexuality should be permitted. This paper considers two arguments for limits to such research, and concludes that there are good reasons to limit at least the dissemination of applied research on the etiology of homosexuality. The paper then briefly sketches how this could work, and looks at th…
Philosophy (11 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Epistemology (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Mental Health and Psychiatry (5 works) · Psychoanalysis (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Homosexuality (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Anthropology (3 works)