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Innateness and Science

Northcott, Robert (2008) Innateness and Science. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Although a huge range of definitions has accumulated in the philosophy, biology and psychology literatures, no consensus has been reached on exactly what innateness amounts to. This has helped fuel an increasing skepticism, one that views the concept as anachronistic and actually harmful to science. Yet it remains central to many life sciences, and to several public policy issues too. So it is correspondingly urgent that its philosophical underpinnings be properly cleaned up. In this paper, I present a new approach that endorses a role in science for innateness while also accommodating many of the skeptical concerns. The key to squaring the circle is to import influential recent work on causal explanation. My thesis is that ascriptions of innateness are best seen as explanatory claims. The account that results has three main original features: 1) Innateness is a pragmatic, relational concept. Every trait may be either innate or non-innate, depending on explanatory context. 2) There is an important distinction between innate traits and innate dispositions. 3) Innateness is useful to science as a higher-level predicate that licenses interventions. It is thereby also clarified what ascriptions of innateness do not tell us.


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Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Northcott, Robert
Keywords: innateness
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Specific Sciences > Psychology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics
Specific Sciences > Biology
General Issues > Causation
General Issues > Explanation
Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science
Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology
Specific Sciences > Psychology > Evolutionary Psychology
Depositing User: Robert Northcott
Date Deposited: 10 Mar 2008
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2010 15:16
Item ID: 3934
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Specific Sciences > Psychology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics
Specific Sciences > Biology
General Issues > Causation
General Issues > Explanation
Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science
Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology
Specific Sciences > Psychology > Evolutionary Psychology
Date: 2008
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/3934

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