Griffiths, Paul E. and Machery, Edouard and Linquist, Stefan (2008) The Vernacular Concept of Innateness. [Preprint]

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Abstract

The proposal that the concept of innateness expresses a ‘folk biological’ theory of the ‘inner natures’ of organisms was tested by examining the response of biologically naive participants to a series of realistic scenarios concerning the development of birdsong. Our results explain the intuitive appeal of existing philosophical analyses of the innateness concept. They simultaneously explain why these analyses are subject to compelling counterexamples. We argue that this explanation undermines the appeal of these analyses, whether understood as analyses of the vernacular concept or as explications of that concept for the purposes of science.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Griffiths, Paul E. Machery, Edouard Linquist, Stefan
Keywords:	Innateness human nature nativism folkbiology folk psychology
Subjects:	General Issues > Thought Experiments Specific Sciences > Psychology Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology Specific Sciences > Psychology > Evolutionary Psychology
Depositing User:	Professor Paul Edmund Griffiths
Date Deposited:	22 Oct 2008
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:17
Item ID:	4245
Subjects:	General Issues > Thought Experiments Specific Sciences > Psychology Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology Specific Sciences > Psychology > Evolutionary Psychology
Date:	October 2008
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/4245

Available Versions of this Item

• The Vernacular Concept of Innateness. (deposited 16 Jun 2007)
  • The Vernacular Concept of Innateness. (deposited 22 Oct 2008) [Currently Displayed]

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