In Praise of: `Evolutionary Philosophy' (Gibney 2012)
In Praise of the book: `Evolutionary Philosophy' (Gibney 2012)
(Praise, by
Velikovsky of Newcastle, December 02020)
Evolutionary Philosophy (Gibney 02012)So, I just read this great book, and - it's: great !
So, now I want to talk about it...
But, the problem there is, I'm a Communication Scientist, and I know for a fact that talking is one of the lowest-bandwidth communication channels that exist, and, life's very short, so, it's best to have the fastest, and most economical, (the best: benefit/cost ratio) communication data throughput.
So, the next best thing is: to write about it, (rather than: talk).
And so, here goes.
(Write on, man! Right on.)
First of all, I'd like you to know, I've been looking for a book like this for years... I didn't even know about it, till super-recently, like, a few days ago...!
So, imagine my thrill of discovery, at finding that, a book I had wanted to read for years, (but thought nobody had written yet), suddenly: existed. (Frankly, it was a huge dopamine rush. And, a huge relief.)
Well; I mean, it existed as an artifact, as a Kindle book, in the "external world", (aka Popper's `World 3') from the year 2012 onwards, but - I for one, didn't know about it, till: the year 2020.
...Holy cowbells!
PS - Wait, did you know about it, until now...?
(...If not: You're welcome.)
(And, hey - if you did, then why weren't you telling me about it, for the past 8 years?)
Because, here's the thing: I wrote a Ph.D, that was published in 2016.
(It's free online, you can read it anytime, if you want; What do I care?)
And, anyway, here's the other thing -
When you write a Ph.D, basically, the algorithm - (or, formula. or pattern, or process, or, recipe) that you have to follow, in the 100,000-word dissertation that you have to write for a Ph.D - is:
Q. 1) What do we already know? (Also known as, a "Literature Review", and then, a Problem Statement/Research Question (i.e., I have read eerything we already know, and so - here is a GAP I have found in the research, that I am now going to try and FILL), and ...
Q. 2) So...What do I, now know? (i.e., After doing my PhD study, and, all of this new research, that: nobody else yet knows - and, frankly, they really should know. [If we assume that knowledge is a good and useful thing, and, I do. Assume that.].)
Q. 3) In the light of my new contribution/s to knowledge (in, this new Ph.D you are now reading), What does this mean-? (Does it change: anything? Everything? Both? Neither?)
4) Finally: Which Philosophical question/s does all of this, speak to? (Does it help answer any unanswered questions, or, solve any as-yet-unsolved important scientific problems?)
...So, yeah. That's the basic, really simple formula, or algorithm, or, recipe, for: a Ph.D.
(Or, for the "standard", regular, most-common form of Ph.D, anyway... There are, likely, some edge cases which are nothing like that... Because: Evolution.)
And so, at some stage of the Ph.D, you really need to pick a Philosophical Question, that your Ph.D helps to answer...! (For, the rest of the world, who probably doesn't have the time - or the energy - to do a Ph.D. on: whatever your new Ph.D is on.)
And, some of the "classic", or, old, or even (so-called) "timeless" Philosophical Questions, include:
`Why am I here?
What is a good life?
What is the right thing to do?
What is right?
What is good?
How do I know?’
Gibney, E. (2012). Evolutionary Philosophy. USA. Kindle Edition (p. 1).
And just for example, in my Ph.D, I used the question "What does it mean to be human?" as the Philosophical Question, which the Ph.D research, shed light on...
And, I said something like this:
`In terms of the philosophical and scientific question of “What does it mean to be human?” these canonical movies [the top 20 Return-on-Investment, or highest benefit/cost ratio movies] generally depict human universals in terms of normative Human
Nature (as understood via Evolutionary Psychology) and partially explains why they
were also selected by Human Nature at the cinema box office.420'
(Velikovsky, the StoryAlity PhD, 2016, p. 245)
Footnote #420: In broad terms the common elements in these narratives are the universal human: “problems of mating: selecting, attracting and retaining a mate and performing the needed sexual behaviour required for successful reproduction” (D. M. Buss, 2012, p. 65). The other part of the broader explanation for these movies’ success is that they adhere to the Anna Karenina principle in both their conception and execution.'
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And so now, let's check out, this awesome book's Table of Contents: because, why not? It helps to know more about what's inside the book.
(But you already know how Tables of Contents work... They're good like that.)
So, here comes the cover of the book again, and, the Table of Contents:
Contents
Evolutionary Philosophy
Purpose
Evolution 101
Philosophy 101
Main -isms, -ologies, and definitions
Current philosophical camps
Tenets
Know Thyself
Concerning Me
Where Did I Come From? (Past)
Where Am I? (Present)
What Am I? (Present)
Where Am I Going? (Future)
Concerning Others
Other Individuals
Society
Concerning Things
Concerning Places
Concerning Ideas
Survival of the Fittest Philosophers
Ancient Philosophy (Pre 450 CE)
Medieval Philosophy (450-1600 CE)
Modern Philosophy (1600-1920 CE)
Contemporary Philosophy (Post 1920 CE)
My Evolution
EvPhil.com
Gibney, Ed. (2012) Evolutionary Philosophy. USA, Kindle Edition. (p. 2%)
--------------------
So...What do you think of that-?!
Personally I think it's great, as Tables of Contents go.
It has: all the stuff, I always want to know more about. And stuff I worry and think about, a lot.
And so, it's great! Also, just want to note, here's one way to think of The Unity of Knowledge: (also known as: consilience.)
i.e. Look at what happens; thanks to Gibney's great book Evolutionary Philosophy (2012), there's now, (and actually, since 2012) a great book, that helps "fill that domain of knowledge", there! Evolutionary Philosophy!
I mean, there are some other pre-existing books on Evolutionary Philosophy... (See my PhD for the gory details...) But, they're not as accessible, and easy-to-read as Evolutionary Philosophy (Gibney 2012)!
So, get on it! Right away! Read it!
...It's great!
Also, you'll notice Evolutionary Culturology is up the top of that diagram. And, I mean; you could swap it upside-down, it wouldn't matter.
I'm not saying, it has a "top" or a "bottom"...
You could even have it sideways, or whatever...
Anyway, all I mean is, it's: great, any way you look at it.
i.e., Evolutionary Philosophy (Gibney 2012).
And now, maybe you're wondering what Evolutionary Systems Philosophy is...
As, that's at the far right of the diagram above. (Or at the bottom, or the top, of, those other diagrams above...)
Well, it's basically:
Laszlo, E. (1972). Introduction to Systems Philosophy: Toward a New Paradigm of Contemporary Thought. New York: Gordon and Breach.
Which was a yuge influence on my (2016) PhD... You should read that, too.
It has a whole bunch of stuff on Evolutionary Systems, and how they: evolve.
Most people don't know (Laszlo 1972). It's been out of print, for years.
They don't know what they're missing!
The two main (currently, popular) "branches" in Philosophy, are: (1) Analytic Philosophy, (2) Continental Philosophy, and then - there's (3) Systems Philosophy. (Which kinda makes the other two look like child's play.)
Anyway, back to the great: Evolutionary Philosophy (Gibney 2012).
The first two parts of the book, on (1) Evolution 101, and on (2) Philosophy 101, are terrific!
...A great "crash course" (or, even, refresher course, if you already knew it all) on both those topics!
I love it-!
And now I'm going to draw a diagram...
Hey, what do you get, when you combine Evolution, and Philosophy?
Evolutionary Philosophy (Gibney 2012)!
Hey - and I love this quote, in the Pragmatism sub-section of the Philosophy 101 section.
`[In Pragmatism:] Theory and practice are not separate spheres; rather, theories and distinctions are tools or maps for finding our way in the world.'
Gibney, Ed (2012). Evolutionary Philosophy (p. 22). Unknown. Kindle Edition.
And, as well as "tools", or "maps", I (personally) also like to see theories as "models".
For example, scientific theories can also be called: scientific models.
Like, Darwin's scientific model of evolution.
Or, Newton's scientific model of gravity.
Or even, Einstein's scientific model of gravity.
...etc.
I also think, it helps solve (remove) the problem that, some people who don't understand science can say "It's only a theory!".
But scientific theories aren't ever "only a theory", as in: just a random idea that may or may not be true, or right, or correct. They are: scientific models. You can test them. In the real world. And, use them to solve problems, in the real world. And, if a better scientific model comes along, everybody who does Science for a living, uses that one instead.
(I suppose the same Science-deniers that say "But it's [Einstein's gravity, Newton's gravity, Darwin's evolution] only a theory!" could instead be just as ignorant, by yelling "But, it's only a scientific model!"... In which case, they would still be as annoying and ignorant and Science-denying as ever. But, stupid is, as stupid does. Knowledge is finite; ignorance can be infinite.)
...And, the rest of the book (Gibney 2012) is brilliant too, and, I'll finish writing this Review, tomorrow.
So, watch this space. (The big empty one, below.)
[Insert more text here, JTV]
Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.
You have been reading / viewing a blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
(aka: Velikovsky of Newcastle)
Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
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