Ian Pitchf
Thu, Jul-18-02, 01:04
The Human Nature Review 2002 Volume 2: 144-146 ( 17 April )
URL of this document http://human-nature.com/nibbs/02/fb.html
Book Review
The Biology of the Masses: A Review of Medin and Atran's
Folkbiology MIT Press, 1999
By William D. Casebeer, Assistant Professor, Department of
Philosophy, US Air Force Academy, CO 80840, USA.
While there has been much talk in the cognitive science
literature of "folk
psychology" and "folk physics," there has been relatively
little discussion of the everyday understanding that most
people use to classify and reason about living things. This
is surprising, since as biological creatures we spend
probably the most important and meaningful segments of our
life-cycle interacting with other biological creatures-our
spouses, children, pets, food, and the like. Douglas Medin
and Scott Atran fill this gap in the literature in an
interesting way with Folkbiology (published by The MIT
Press in 1999), a collection of essays featuring such
luminaries as Jared Diamond (of Guns, Germs, and Steel
fame), Frank Keil and David Hull. These three authors
represent, respectively, the fields of anthropology,
cognitive science, and philosophy of biology. This gives
some indication of the interdisciplinary flavor and range
of this collection of original articles.
Full text http://human-nature.com/nibbs/02/fb.html
Table of contents http://human-nature.com/nibbs/contents.html
LETTERS TO THE EDITORS should be addressed to
review@human-nature.com
________
Folkbiology by Douglas L. Medin (Introduction), Scott Atran
(Introduction) Paperback - 514 pages (June 11, 1999) MIT
Press; ISBN: 026263192X AMAZON - US http://www.amazon.com/exe-
c/obidos/ASIN/026263192X/darwinanddarwini/ AMAZON - UK http:/-
/www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/026263192X/humannaturecom/
Book Description "Folk Biology is an excellent collection of
original articles that will be a great aid to scholars and
students interested in anthropological and
ppsychological aspects of ethnobiology." -- Ronald W. Casson,
Department of Anthropology, Oberlin College
The term "folkbiology" refers to people's everyday
understanding of the biological world--how they perceive,
categorize, and reason about living kinds. The study of
folkbiology not only sheds light on human nature, it may
ultimately help us make the transition to a global economy
without irreparably damaging the environment or destroying
local cultures.
This book takes an interdisciplinary approach, bringing
together the work of researchers in anthropology, cognitive
and developmental psychology, biology, and philosophy of
science. The issues covered include: Are folk taxonomies a
first-order approximation to classical scientific
taxonomies, or are they driven more directly by utilitarian
concerns? How are these category schemes linked to reasoning
about natural kinds? Is there any nontrivial sense in which
folk-taxonomic structures are universal? What impact does
science have on folk taxonomy? Together, the chapters
present the current foundations of folkbiology and indicate
new directions in research.
Contributors: Scott Atran, Terry Kit-fong Au, Brent Berlin, K.
David Bishop, John D. Coley, Jared Diamond, John Dupré, Roy
Ellen, Susan A. Gelman, Michael
T. Ghiselin, Grant Gutheil, Giyoo Hatano, Lawrence A.
Hirschfeld, David L. Hull, Eugene Hunn, Kayoko Inagaki,
Frank C. Keil, Daniel T. Levin, Elizabeth Lynch, Douglas L.
Medin, Julia Beth Proffitt, Bethany A. Richman, Laura F.
Romo, Sandra R. Waxman.
About the Author Douglas L. Medin is Co-director of the
Program in Cognitive Studies of the Environment at
Northwestern University. Scott Atran is a cognitive
anthropologist at the Centre National de la Récherche
Scientifique, France, and Adjunct Professor of Psychology,
Natural Resources, and the Environment at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor.
The publisher, The MIT Press , August 12, 1999 An important
collection of articles on ethnobiology... The term
"folkbiology" refers to people's everyday understanding of the
biological world- how they perceive, categorized, and reason
about living kinds. The study of folkbiology not only sheds
light on human nature, it may ultimately help us make the
transition to a global economy without irreparably damaging
the environment or destroying local cultures.
This book takes an interdisciplinary approach, bringing
together the work of researchers in anthropology, cognitive
and developmental psychology, biology, and philosophy of
science. The issues covered include: Are folk taxonomies a
first-order approximation to classical scientific
taxonomies, or are they driven more directly by utilitarian
concerns? How are these category schemes linked to reasoning
about natural kinds? Is there any nontrivial sense in which
folk-taxonomic structures are universal? What impact does
science have on folk taxonomy? Together, the chapters
present the current foundations of folkbiology and indicate
new directions in research.
Douglas L. Medin is Co-director of the Program in Cognitive
Studies of the Environment at Northwestern University. Scott
Atran is a cognitive anthropologist at the Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique, France, and Adjunct Professor of
Psychology, Natural Resources, and the Environment at the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Contributors: Scott Atran, Terry Kit-fong Au, Brent Berlin, K.
David Bishop, John D. Coley, Jared Diamond, John Dupre, Roy
Ellen, Susan A. Gelman, Michael
U. Ghiselin, Grant Gutheil, Giyoo Hatano, Lawrence A.
Hirschfeld, David L. Hull, Eugene Hunn, Kayoko Inagaki,
Frank C. Keil, Daniel T. Levin, Elizabeth Lynch, Douglas L.
Medin, Julia Beth Proffitt, Bethany A. Richman, Laura F.
Romo, Sandra R. Waxman.
URL of this document http://human-nature.com/nibbs/02/fb.html
Book Review
The Biology of the Masses: A Review of Medin and Atran's
Folkbiology MIT Press, 1999
By William D. Casebeer, Assistant Professor, Department of
Philosophy, US Air Force Academy, CO 80840, USA.
While there has been much talk in the cognitive science
literature of "folk
psychology" and "folk physics," there has been relatively
little discussion of the everyday understanding that most
people use to classify and reason about living things. This
is surprising, since as biological creatures we spend
probably the most important and meaningful segments of our
life-cycle interacting with other biological creatures-our
spouses, children, pets, food, and the like. Douglas Medin
and Scott Atran fill this gap in the literature in an
interesting way with Folkbiology (published by The MIT
Press in 1999), a collection of essays featuring such
luminaries as Jared Diamond (of Guns, Germs, and Steel
fame), Frank Keil and David Hull. These three authors
represent, respectively, the fields of anthropology,
cognitive science, and philosophy of biology. This gives
some indication of the interdisciplinary flavor and range
of this collection of original articles.
Full text http://human-nature.com/nibbs/02/fb.html
Table of contents http://human-nature.com/nibbs/contents.html
LETTERS TO THE EDITORS should be addressed to
review@human-nature.com
________
Folkbiology by Douglas L. Medin (Introduction), Scott Atran
(Introduction) Paperback - 514 pages (June 11, 1999) MIT
Press; ISBN: 026263192X AMAZON - US http://www.amazon.com/exe-
c/obidos/ASIN/026263192X/darwinanddarwini/ AMAZON - UK http:/-
/www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/026263192X/humannaturecom/
Book Description "Folk Biology is an excellent collection of
original articles that will be a great aid to scholars and
students interested in anthropological and
ppsychological aspects of ethnobiology." -- Ronald W. Casson,
Department of Anthropology, Oberlin College
The term "folkbiology" refers to people's everyday
understanding of the biological world--how they perceive,
categorize, and reason about living kinds. The study of
folkbiology not only sheds light on human nature, it may
ultimately help us make the transition to a global economy
without irreparably damaging the environment or destroying
local cultures.
This book takes an interdisciplinary approach, bringing
together the work of researchers in anthropology, cognitive
and developmental psychology, biology, and philosophy of
science. The issues covered include: Are folk taxonomies a
first-order approximation to classical scientific
taxonomies, or are they driven more directly by utilitarian
concerns? How are these category schemes linked to reasoning
about natural kinds? Is there any nontrivial sense in which
folk-taxonomic structures are universal? What impact does
science have on folk taxonomy? Together, the chapters
present the current foundations of folkbiology and indicate
new directions in research.
Contributors: Scott Atran, Terry Kit-fong Au, Brent Berlin, K.
David Bishop, John D. Coley, Jared Diamond, John Dupré, Roy
Ellen, Susan A. Gelman, Michael
T. Ghiselin, Grant Gutheil, Giyoo Hatano, Lawrence A.
Hirschfeld, David L. Hull, Eugene Hunn, Kayoko Inagaki,
Frank C. Keil, Daniel T. Levin, Elizabeth Lynch, Douglas L.
Medin, Julia Beth Proffitt, Bethany A. Richman, Laura F.
Romo, Sandra R. Waxman.
About the Author Douglas L. Medin is Co-director of the
Program in Cognitive Studies of the Environment at
Northwestern University. Scott Atran is a cognitive
anthropologist at the Centre National de la Récherche
Scientifique, France, and Adjunct Professor of Psychology,
Natural Resources, and the Environment at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor.
The publisher, The MIT Press , August 12, 1999 An important
collection of articles on ethnobiology... The term
"folkbiology" refers to people's everyday understanding of the
biological world- how they perceive, categorized, and reason
about living kinds. The study of folkbiology not only sheds
light on human nature, it may ultimately help us make the
transition to a global economy without irreparably damaging
the environment or destroying local cultures.
This book takes an interdisciplinary approach, bringing
together the work of researchers in anthropology, cognitive
and developmental psychology, biology, and philosophy of
science. The issues covered include: Are folk taxonomies a
first-order approximation to classical scientific
taxonomies, or are they driven more directly by utilitarian
concerns? How are these category schemes linked to reasoning
about natural kinds? Is there any nontrivial sense in which
folk-taxonomic structures are universal? What impact does
science have on folk taxonomy? Together, the chapters
present the current foundations of folkbiology and indicate
new directions in research.
Douglas L. Medin is Co-director of the Program in Cognitive
Studies of the Environment at Northwestern University. Scott
Atran is a cognitive anthropologist at the Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique, France, and Adjunct Professor of
Psychology, Natural Resources, and the Environment at the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Contributors: Scott Atran, Terry Kit-fong Au, Brent Berlin, K.
David Bishop, John D. Coley, Jared Diamond, John Dupre, Roy
Ellen, Susan A. Gelman, Michael
U. Ghiselin, Grant Gutheil, Giyoo Hatano, Lawrence A.
Hirschfeld, David L. Hull, Eugene Hunn, Kayoko Inagaki,
Frank C. Keil, Daniel T. Levin, Elizabeth Lynch, Douglas L.
Medin, Julia Beth Proffitt, Bethany A. Richman, Laura F.
Romo, Sandra R. Waxman.