Human Nature: The Very Idea

Lewens, Tim

doi:10.1007/s13347-012-0063-x

Cited by 52 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…From an ontological perspective, the core issues appear to be whether there is a human identity, whether such identity is to be grounded on essential or non essential traits, or whether, instead, it is to be found in a particular kind of process. [36][37][38][39][40] The issue becomes more complex when we consider that for a number of historical and religious reasons, the possession of a human identity (often discussed in philosophy in terms of Bhuman nature^) has often been taken to mean moral superiority.…”

Section: Human Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroethics and Philosophy in Responsible Research and Innovation: The Case of the Human Brain Project

2018

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Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)is an important ethical, legal, and political theme for the European Commission. Although variously defined, it is generally understood as an interactive process that engages social actors, researchers, and innovators who must be mutually responsive and work towards the ethical permissibility of the relevant research and its products. The framework of RRI calls for contextually addressing not just research and innovation impact but also the background research process, specially the societal visions underlying it and the norms and priorities that shape scientific agendas. This requires the integration of anticipatory, inclusive, and responsive dimensions, and the nurturing of a certain type of reflexivity among a variety of stakeholders, from scientists to funders. In this paper, we do not address potential limitations but focus on the potential contribution of philosophical reflection to RRI in the context of the Ethics and Society subproject of the Human Brain Project (HBP). We show how the type of conceptual analysis provided by philosophically oriented approaches theoretically and ethically broadens research and innovation within the HBP. We further suggest that overt inclusion of philosophical reflection can promote the aims and objectives of RRI.

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Section: Human Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroethics and Philosophy in Responsible Research and Innovation: The Case of the Human Brain Project

2018

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“…Cultural Evolution spends two chapters assessing whether dual inheritance theory is committed to a strong distinction between human nature and culture, as many critics suspect. Lewens himself is a strong critic of any strong form of human nature (Lewens 2012). The kinetic theorists in fact think that culture and genes coevolve and codevelop in such an intimate fashion that dissecting out a genebased human nature is impossible.…”

Section: Cultural Evolution: Conceptual Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Critiques of Dual Inheritance Theory

Richerson¹

2017

Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture

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e dual inheritance or gene-culture coevolution theory of human evolution was developed in the 1970s and 80s. Early work built mathematical theories derived from thencurrent work in human development, sociolinguistics, and the di usion of innovations. More recently it has included a considerable amount of new empirical work. e theory has always had critics in evolutionary biology and the social and behavioral sciences. Morin's book critiques the theory from an alternate epidemiological or attraction theory of cultural evolution that doubts that imitation and adaptation play signi cant roles in cultural evolution. Lewens book is a wide-ranging analysis of critiques of gene-culture coevolution theory that nds most of them in error or at least not fatal to the project. His book includes a chapter on critiques based on considerations of human nature, of which Morin's book is one variant, and which Lewens argues are faulty. at is also my conclusion.

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“…Evolution can shed light on causality and explanation (for example the status of historical explanations) (e.g., Sober 1984), and the definition of scientific theories (e.g., Lloyd 1988), among other issues. In addition, a careful examination of evolution can have major consequences for some of the most fundamental and traditional debates of philosophy and metaphysics, including the possibility of defining human nature (Hull 1986;Lewens 2012), the definition of natural kinds (e.g., Dupré 1993), the emergence of cognition (Sterelny 2003) and morality (Joyce 2006), or the definition of individuality (Hull 1978;Hull 1980;Godfrey-Smith 2013).…”

Section: Evolution Is Philosophically More Interestingmentioning

confidence: 99%