William S. Cooper - The Evolution of Reason: Logic as a Branch of Biology

The Evolution of Reason: Logic as a Branch of Biology

WILLIAM S. COOPER

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Evolution of Reason

Formal logic has traditionally been conceived as bearing no special relationship to biology. Recent developments in evolutionary theory suggest, however, that the two subjects may be intimately related. In this book, William Cooper presents a carefully supported theory of rationality in which logical law is seen as an intrinsic aspect of the process of evolution. This biological perspective on logic, though at present unorthodox, suggests new evolutionary foundations for the study of human and animal reasoning.

Professor Cooper examines the formal connections between logic and evolutionary biology, noting how the logical rules are directly derivable from evolutionary principles. Laws of decision and utility theory, probabilistic induction, deduction, and mathematics are found to be natural consequences of elementary population processes. Relating logical law to evolutionary dynamics in this way gives rise to a unified evolutionary science of rationality.

The Evolution of Reason provides a significant and original contribution in evolutionary epistemology. It will be of interest to professionals and students of the philosophy of science, formal logic, evolutionary theory, and the cognitive sciences.

William S. Cooper is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.

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CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY AND BIOLOGY

General Editor

Michael Ruse Florida State University Advisory Board

Michael Donoghue Harvard University

Jean Gayon University of Paris

Jonathan Hodge University of Leeds

Jane Maienschein Arizona State University

Jes s Mostern Instituto de Filosofa (Spanish Research Council)

Elliott Sober University of Wisconsin

Published Titles

Alfred I. Tauber: The Immune Self: Theory or Metaphor?

Elliott Sober: From a Biological Point of View

Robert Brandon: Concepts and Methods in Evolutionary Biology

Peter Godfrey-Smith: Complexity and the Function of Mind in Nature

William A. Rottschaefer: The Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency

Sahotra Sarkar: Genetics and Reductionism

Jean Gayon: Darwinisms Struggle for Survival

Jane Maienschein and Michael Ruse (eds.): Biology and the Foundation of Ethics

Jack Wilson: Biological Individuality

Richard Creath and Jane Maienschein (eds.): Biology and Epistemology

Alexander Rosenberg: Darwinism in Philosophy, Social Science and Policy

Peter Beurton, Raphael Falk, and Jrg Rheinberger (eds.): The Concept of the Gene in Development and Evolution

David Hull: Science and Selection

James G. Lennox: Aristotles Philosophy of Biology

Marc Ereshefsky: The Poverty of the Linnaean Hierarchy

Kim Sterelny: The Evolution of Agency and Other Essays

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WILLIAM S. COOPER

Professor Emeritus University of California, Berkeley

PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL PUBLISHING) FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP

40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA

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http://www.cambridge.org

William S. Cooper 2001

This edition William S. Cooper 2003

First published in printed format 2001

A catalogue record for the original printed book is available from the British Library and from the Library of Congress Original ISBN 0 521 79196 0 hardback

ISBN 0 511 01816 9 virtual (netLibrary Edition)

Foreword ix

1 The Biology of Logic 1

2 The Evolutionary Derivation of Life-History Strategy Theory 19

3 The Evolutionary Derivation of Decision Logic 43

4 The Evolutionary Derivation of Inductive Logic (Part I) 69

5 The Evolutionary Derivation of Deductive Logic 90

6 The Evolutionary Derivation of Inductive Logic (Part II) 109

7 The Evolutionary Derivation of Mathematics 125

8 Broadening the Evolutionary Foundation of Classical Logic 136

9 The Evolutionary Derivation of Nonclassical Logics 146

10 Radical Reductionism in Logic 173

11 Toward a Unified Science of Reason 191

Appendix: Formal Theory 203

References

Index [Page vii]

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This book is about how logic relates to evolutionary theory. It is a study in the biology of logic. It attempts to outline a theory of rationality in which logical law emerges as an intrinsic aspect of evolutionary biology, part of it and inseparable from it. It aspires to join the ideas of logic to evolutionary theory in such a way as to provide unified foundations for an evolutionary science of Reason.

An understanding of modern evolutionary explanation and sympathy with its aims has been assumed throughout. A prior acquaintance with the elements of symbolic logic and probability theory has been assumed as well, and some familiarity with decision theory would be desirable. Beyond that, it is my hope that philosophers of science, logicians, evolutionists, cognitive scientists, and others, will find the exposition readable.

The mathematics has been kept to a minimum. The exception is an important appendix which sets forth in mathematical detail a critical portion of the underlying formal development. My effort has been to make the theory as clear as possible, both conceptually and mathematically, with the heavier math kept separate for those who might wish to study the theory in greater depth.

The work owes much to many people. Of special note is the fact that one of the evolutionary models receiving attention (Model 5) resulted from a collaboration with Professor Robert Kaplan, now of Reed College, to whom I am deeply indebted for numerous evolutionary insights. I am grateful to Professors Ernest Adams, Bill Maron, Steven Stearns, and several referees for their valuable suggestions and criticisms of the manuscript. The book consolidates the results of earlier investigations which benefited at various stages from the comments of George Barlow, Mario Bunge, Roy Caldwell, Christopher Cherniak, [Page ix]

Daniel Dennett, John Endler, Baruch Fischoff, John Gillespie, Richard Griego, Paul Huizinga, Russel Lande, Richard Lewontin, John Maynard Smith, Stanley Salthe, Glenn Shafer, Dave Wake, Edward O. Wilson, Mary Wilson, and Patrick Wilson. Mention of these kind people does not imply their endorsement of what is said here. Portions of the earlier work were supported by National Science Foundation grants IST-7917566, IST-8113213, and the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, Berkeley.

Berkeley, January 2000 [Page x]

In The Descent of Man Charles Darwin made some remarks about Reason. They begin

Of all the faculties of the human mind, it will, I presume, be admitted that Reason stands at the summit. Only a few persons now dispute that animals possess some power of reasoning. Animals may constantly be seen to pause, deliberate, and resolve. It is a significant fact, that the more the habits of any particular animal are studied by a naturalist, the more he attributes to reason and the less to unlearnt instincts. (Darwin 1871, p. 75)

The passage continues with an astute commentary on the evolution of Reason in humans and animals.