Innateness in Mind: (Elements in Philosophy of Mind)

About the Book

This Element focuses on contemporary forms of nativism (belief in innateness), which mostly concern the existence of domain-specific learning mechanisms with innate structure and content. After sketching some innate capacities that are widely believed to be shared with other animals, the Element thereafter discusses a number of (alleged) distinctively-human ones. One concerns a faculty of language, another our capacity for representing the mental states of others (and derivatively, ourselves). It then turns to discuss some proposed innate adaptations that support culture. These include a number of learning biases, as well as affective learning mechanisms that enable swift acquisition of cultural values. The final two sections then discuss 'tribal psychology.' This may include an innate disposition to stereotype social groups as well as innate 'tribal' motivations (both positive and negative). The over-arching thesis of the Element is that human nature might best be thought of as culture-enabling nature.

Table of Contents:
1. The innateness question; 2. Our animal inheritance; 3. A language faculty; 4. A mentalizing faculty; 5. A cultural creature; 6. Evaluative learning; 7. Tribal thinking; 8. Tribal feeling; 9. Summary and conclusion; References.

About the Author :
Peter Carruthers is Professor and Chair in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Maryland.

Stephen Laurence is Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Director of the Hang Seng Center for Cognitive Studies at University of Sheffield.

Stephen Stich is Board of Governors Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University.

Review :
"If you are impressed by our species' cross-cultural variation, but mystified by how it emerges, then read this book. If you are unimpressed by our cross-cultural variation, but moved by our universality, then read this book. You will learn that of all the species that have existed on earth, we are truly bizarre, at once both clones of each other and yet remarkably different."--Marc Hauser, Harvard College Professor of Psychology and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and author of Wild Minds and Moral Minds."Carruthers, Laurence, and Stich have done it again! The second book in their Innate Mind series is as much a must have as the first. Most of the big names in evolutionary psychology and cultural evolution are represented here, talking sensibly and informatively about how culture informs and shapes the innate mind, and vice versa. Both meta-level and object-level issues are dealt with. How should the relation between culture and the genetically shaped mind be conceived? Is the innate mind modular? How does our manifest and massive enculturation influence the evolution of our minds, and how do the minds we have inherited from our hominid ancestors shape our mental, social, moral, and religious practices? This book is not a survey; it is a collection of cutting-edge research papers, which should stimulate professionals and students alike."--Fiona Cowie, author of What's Within"This is a fantastic volume. It beautifully answers the tired complaint that we need to get beyond the simple nature/nurture dichotomy. This collection of essays represents a striking advance in our understanding of both nativism and culture. It also provides the basis for a bright future in charting how innate and cultural components interact. Together with the other Innate Mind volumes assembled by this team, this volume represents a real landmark in the development of nativism."--Shaun Nichols, University of Arizona, and author of Sentimental Rules and co-author of Mindreading.