The main theme of the Congress is to investigate the origin and evolution of language and/or culture from within Evolutionary Epistemology.
Evolutionary Epistemology, a term first coined by Donald T. Campbell, is a fast growing field within philosophy of science which focuses mainly on the evolution of evolutionary mechanisms (the EEM-programme) and the evolution of evolutionary theories (the EET-programme), a distinction made by Michael Bradie and William Harms. The main idea of this discipline is that we should take Darwin seriously (Michael Ruse), emphasizing the importance of natural selection in the investigation of the origin and evolution of our cognitive abilities such as language, culture or science.
Because of recent developments within biology, the time has come however, to not only take Darwin seriously, but to also investigate the possibilities other evolutionary theories, such as systemstheory, theories about self-organization, punctuated equilibrium, symbiogenesis, insights in the homeobox, … can bring to the field.
The nature/nurture debate within anthropology has cleared room for an investigation in the diverse learning strategies and practices used by members of different cultures and the time has come to ask how these cognitive learning abilities interact with and evolved out of our biological cognitive capacities.
Therefore, the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science and the Centre Leo Apostel, both of the Free University of Brussels, organize a 3-day congress on Evolutionary Epistemology, Language and Culture. The conference 's main aim will be to bring together scholars working on (the origin and evolution of ) language and/or culture from within the framework of Evolutionary Epistemology, especially EEM. Preference will be given to those abstracts that formulate criticisms towards modularity, universal selection theories and universal Darwinism, but nevertheless adhere to an evolutionary view to study language and culture.
Invited Speakers
- Franz Wuketits (Institute for Philosophy of Science - University of Vienna)
- Tim Ingold (Department of Anthropology - University of Aberdeen)
- Marek Czachor (Department of Theoretical Physics - University of Gdansk)
- Bart de Boer (Department of Artificial Intelligence - University of Groningen)
- Olaf Diettrich (Austrian Society for Cognitive Sciences - Vienna)
Program Committee
Nathalie Gontier, Jean Paul Van Bendegem, Diederik Aerts
Local Organizer
Nathalie Gontier
Important dates
Abstract deadline: February 1, 2004
Notification of Acceptance: March 1, 2004
Registration Deadline: May 1, 2004
Conference: 26 - 28 May, 2004