e v o lu t i o n a r y t h o u g h t in p s y c h o l o g y A Brief History HENRY PLOTKIN evolutionary thought in psychology: A Brief History Blackwell Brief Histories of Psychology TheBlackwellBriefHistoriesofPsychologyofferconcise,accessible, and lively accounts of key topics within psychology, such as emotion,intelligence,andstress,thathavehadaprofoundeffect on psychological and cultural life. The books in this series pro- videarichsenseofhistoricalcontextwhileremaininggrounded in contemporary issues and research that will be of interest to both academicand general readers. Stress: ABriefHistory Cary L. Cooper and Philip Dewe Evolutionary Thought in Psychology:A Brief History Henry Plotkin Emotions:A Brief History Keith Oatley Intelligence: ABriefHistory Robert J.SternbergandAnna T. Cianciolo e v o lu t i o n a r y t h o u g h t in p s y c h o l o g y A Brief History HENRY PLOTKIN (cid:1)2004byHenryPlotkin 350MainStreet,Malden,MA02148-5020,USA 108CowleyRoad,OxfordOX41JF,UK 550SwanstonStreet,Carlton,Victoria3053,Australia TherightofHenryPlotkintobeidentifiedastheAuthorofthis WorkhasbeenassertedinaccordancewiththeUKCopyright, Designs,andPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyany means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingor otherwise,exceptaspermittedbytheUKCopyright,Designs,and PatentsAct1988,withoutthepriorpermissionofthepublisher. Firstpublished2004byBlackwellPublishingLtd LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Plotkin,H.C.(HenryC.) Evolutionarythoughtinpsychology:abriefhistory/HenryPlotkin. p.cm.—(Blackwellbriefhistoriesofpsychology;2) Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex. ISBN1–4051–1377–4(hbk:alk.paper)—ISBN1–4051–1378–2 (pbk:alk.paper) 1.Evolutionarypsychology—History.I.Title.II.Series. BF698.95.P5752004 155.7—dc22 2003028027 AcataloguerecordforthistitleisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. Setin10/12ptBookAntique byKolamInformationServicesPvt.Ltd,Pondicherry,India PrintedandboundintheUnitedKingdom byTJInternational,Padstow,Cornwall Forfurtherinformationon BlackwellPublishing,visitourwebsite: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com In memoryof my parents Contents Preface ix CHAPTER1 CURIOUSHISTORIES 1 CHAPTER2 BEFOREDARWIN 9 Preliminaries 10 Jean-BaptistedeLamarck 20 Herbert Spencer 24 CHAPTER3 PSYCHOLOGYBORNANDTHE DARWINIANREVOLUTION 28 The New ScienceofMind 28 The Darwinian Revolution 33 Darwin’s Immediate Successors 38 Early Psychology in theUnited States 44 CHAPTER4 THENEARDEATHOFDARWINISMIN THESOCIALSCIENCES 48 Evolutionafter Darwin 48 Behaviorism TakesHold in Psychology 53 The Rise of CulturalAnthropology 62 CHAPTER5 ANEXCEPTIONALCASE 70 The FundamentalProblem 71 ANew Factor inEvolution 77 Evolutionary Epistemology 83 Fall andDecline 88 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER6 LESSONSTOBELEARNED:ETHOLOGYAND SOCIOBIOLOGY 90 Classical Ethology 91 Sociobiology 105 CHAPTER7 CONTEMPORARYEVOLUTIONARYPSYCHOLOGY 123 Evolutionary Theory from 1959 124 NecessaryPrecursors in theMainDiscipline 129 Evolutionary Psychology Reborn 134 Which SideisBringingScienceinto Disrepute? 148 ANatural Scienceof Culture 154 CHAPTER8 FUTUREPROSPECTS 158 References 162 Index 166