The Evolution of Reason: Logic as a Branch of Biology
Cambridge University Press (2001)
| Abstract | The formal systems of logic have ordinarily been regarded as independent of biology, but recent developments in evolutionary theory suggest that biology and logic may be intimately interrelated. In this book, Cooper outlines a theory of rationality in which logical law emerges as an intrinsic aspect of evolutionary biology. This biological perspective on logic, though at present unorthodox, could change traditional ideas about the reasoning process. Cooper examines the connections between logic and evolutionary biology and illustrates how logical rules are derived directly from evolutionary principles, and therefore have no independent status of their own. Laws of decision theory, utility theory, induction, and deduction are reinterpreted as natural consequences of evolutionary processes. Cooper's connection of logical law to evolutionary theory results in a unified foundation for an evolutionary science of reason. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Biology Philosophy Logic | |||||||||
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| Call number | QH331.C847 2001 | |||||||||
| ISBN(s) | 0521791960 | |||||||||
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