Journal article
Animal mind and the argument from design
The American psychologist, Vol.50(3), pp.133-144
1995
DOI: 10.1037//0003-066X.50.3.133
PMID: 7726467
Abstract
The argument from design has played an important role in the history of philosophy and biology. Paley, the 19th-century theologian, was struck by the bodily complexity and adaptive fit of animals to their environments; he used the argument from design to prove the existence of God. Darwin, however, provided the natural evolutionary mechanisms that eliminated the need for positing a divine creator to explain the structure of animals; he was thus able to treat the historical problem of organic evolution by providing a historical solution. Today, some students of behavior are similarly struck by the complexity of animals' actions and their adaptive fit to the environment. Like Paley, they use the argument from design, but to prove the existence of a conscious designer inside the head of the animal--the mind. This mentalistic approach suffers from many of the philosophical and empirical problems that plagued similar efforts in the past.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Animal mind and the argument from design
- Creators
- Mark S BlumbergEdward A Wasserman
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The American psychologist, Vol.50(3), pp.133-144
- DOI
- 10.1037//0003-066X.50.3.133
- PMID
- 7726467
- NLM abbreviation
- Am Psychol
- ISSN
- 0003-066X
- eISSN
- 1935-990X
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 1995
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9984002590402771
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