How Can Discontinuities in Evolution Be Conceptualized
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2389607 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Damerow (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2000 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 155-160 |
| Publication date | 2000-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Culture & Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1354-067X • E-ISSN: 1461-7056 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1354067x0062004 |
| OpenAlex | W2025040712 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
Causal effects are different from evolutionary discontinuities. As far as Lock (2000) and Savage-Rumbaugh and Fields (2000) deal with the relation of animal behavior and human activity, they have in common that they argue against an implicit misinterpretation of evolutionary discontinuities as causal effects. As a consequence, it is argued in both papers that it is not the biologically determined animal nature that prevents primates from using human language. The two papers disagree, however, on Bickerton's distinction of protolanguage and language proper and, therefore, on the nature of 'ape language'. It is argued in the present commentary that this different judgment results from the fact that evolutionary progress appears continuous on the level of the individual, but discontinuous on the level of a whole population
Classification of discontinuities · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Epistemology · Evolutionary theory · Language evolution · Population · Sociology · Child and Animal Learning Development · Computer Science · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Language and cultural evolution · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |