Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T05:09:57.325Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Unification at the cost of realism and precision

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2020

Rachael L. Brown ,
Carl Brusse Open the ORCID record for Carl Brusse [Opens in a new window] ,
Bryce Huebner  and
Ross Pain Open the ORCID record for Ross Pain [Opens in a new window]
Rachael L. Brown
Affiliation:
School of Philosophy, the Australian National University, Canberra, 0200ACT, Australia. rachael.brown@anu.edu.au ross.pain@anu.edu.au http://rachaelbrown.net
Carl Brusse
Affiliation:
School of Philosophy, the Australian National University, Canberra, 0200ACT, Australia. rachael.brown@anu.edu.au ross.pain@anu.edu.au http://rachaelbrown.net Department of Philosophy and Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2006, Australia. carl.brusse@sydney.edu.au
Bryce Huebner
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC20009. bryce.huebner@georgetown.edu brycehuebner.weebly.com
Ross Pain
Affiliation:
School of Philosophy, the Australian National University, Canberra, 0200ACT, Australia. rachael.brown@anu.edu.au ross.pain@anu.edu.au http://rachaelbrown.net
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Veissière et al. must sacrifice explanatory realism and precision in order to develop a unified formal model. Drawing on examples from cognitive archeology, we argue that this makes it difficult for them to derive the kinds of testable predictions that would allow them to resolve debates over the nature of human social cognition and cultural acquisition.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e95
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cole, J. (2016) Accessing hominin cognition: Language and social signaling in the lower to middle Palaeolithic. In Cognitive models in Palaeolithic archaeology, eds. Wynn, T. G. & Coolidge, F. L., pp. 157–95. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coolidge, F. L. & Wynn, T. (2018) The rise of Homo sapiens: The evolution of modern thinking, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
De Jaegher, H. (2013) Embodiment and sense-making in autism. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 7:15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2013.00015.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levins, R. (1966) The strategy of model building in population biology. American Scientist 54(4):421–31.Google Scholar
Malafouris, L. (2016) Material engagement and the embodied mind. In Cognitive models in Palaeolithic archaeology, eds. Wynn, T. & Coolidge, F L., pp. 69–82. Oxford University Press,CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mithen, S. J. (1996) The prehistory of the mind: The cognitive origins of Art, religion and science. 1st paperback. Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Noble, W. & Davidson, I. (1996) Human evolution, language and mind: A psychological and archaeological inquiry. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Overmann, K. A. (2016) Materiality and numerical cognition: A material engagement theory perspective. In: Cognitive models in Palaeolithic archaeology, eds. Wynn, T. & Coolidge, F. L., pp. 42–51. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schaafsma, S. M., Pfaff, D. W., Spunt, R. P. & Adolphs, R. (2015) Deconstructing and reconstructing theory of mind. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 19(2):65–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2014.11.007.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomlinson, G. (2015) A million years of music: The emergence of human modernity. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Warnell, K. R. & Redcay, E. (2019) Minimal coherence among varied theory of mind measures in childhood and adulthood. Cognition 191(October):103997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2019.06.009.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woodward, J. (2005) Making things happen: A theory of causal explanation. Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Science. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar