14 Aug 2014
A paper by Jack Birner, made available with the author's permission.
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Jack Birner (2009).
"From Group Selection to Ecological Niches: Popper's rethinking of evolutionary
theory in the light of Hayek's theory of culture." In
Z. Parusnikova & R.S. Cohen (eds.), Rethinking Popper,
Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Springer. vol 272. pp 185-202
ABSTRACT
Hayek's The Sensory Order contains a physicalistic identity theory of the mind.
Popper criticized it, saying that it could not explain the higher functions of
language. Hayek took up that challenge in a manuscript but failed to refute
Popper's arguments. Drawing upon the same manuscript, Hayek developed a theory
of behavioural rules and cultural evolution. Despite his criticism of the theory
of mind on which this evolutionary theory was based, Popper adopted Hayek's idea
of group selection. He transformed it into a theory of the selective power of
ecological niches. This became a central element of Popper's theory of
evolution. The chapter traces the influence Popper and Hayek had on each other
in the fields of the philosophy of mind and evolutionary theory. This is
documented, inter alia, by their correspondence. Popper's theory of evolution,
which is based on his dualistic theory of mind, is presented in its various
stages of development The chapter concludes with a possible application of that
evolutionary theory, some thoughts about David Hume as the source of the
differences between Popper and Hayek, and on the possible impact Popper's
criticism had on Hayek's role in artificial intelligence.
Maintained by
Aaron Sloman
School of Computer Science
The University of Birmingham