Saberi, Farid (2025) How to Relate Major Transitions in Life and Cognition? [Preprint]
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Abstract
Abstract. Recent innovative research has focused on major transitions in cognitive evolution, drawing from the existing literature on major transitions in the evolution of life. This prompts a careful examination of the distinctions and similarities between these two types of transitions. In this paper, I present four claims. First, a theoretically fruitful approach to understanding major evolutionary transitions (METs) in life is to conceptualize them as a set of objectively similar events, akin to a natural kind concept. Second, this framework allows for discussing major cognitive transitions (MCTs) while emphasizing that METs and MCTs represent two distinct subsets of possibility-expanding evolutionary events, each defined by different criteria. Third, the recent works of Barron et al. (2023) and Ginsburg and Jablonka (2019, 2021) serve as successful examples of applying a transition-oriented approach to cognitive evolution. Both provide coherent definitions of MCTs along with fine-grained explanations of these events in unique ways. Finally, drawing on the tradition of dialectical thinking, specifically the method of climbing down the ladder of abstraction, I argue that their contributions can be viewed as complementary rather than competing alternatives.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology Specific Sciences > Neuroscience > Cognitive Neuroscience |
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| Depositing User: | Mr. Farid Saberi | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 26 Aug 2025 13:13 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 26 Aug 2025 13:13 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 26376 | ||||||
| DOI or Unique Handle: | Saberi, F. How to relate major transitions in life and cognition?. Biol Philos 40, 12 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-025-09987-z | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology Specific Sciences > Neuroscience > Cognitive Neuroscience |
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| Date: | 16 July 2025 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26376 |
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