The mine--body problem in an evolutionary perspective.

Abstract

Charles Darwin realized that his theory of evolution, jointly with the psychoneural identity hypothesis, implies the conjecture that behaviour and ideation evolve alongside anatomical and physiological traits. He was therefore the founder of evolutionary psychology. However, this science has not been pursued with vigour: not even its name has attained currency. In fact most psychologists still think in a pre-evolutionary fashion and seldom ask questions about the adaptive value and possible evolution of behavioural and mental traits. One reason for the underdevelopment of evolutionary psychology is that, on the whole, psychology is still separate from biology. In turn, one reason for this estrangement between close relatives is that psychology is still to some extent in the grip of psychoneural dualism, or the prehistoric belief that mind and body are separate entities. This doctrine is bound to block the advance of evolutionary psychology because a dualist must either deny mental evolution or speculate that it proceeds by some mechanism other than genic variation and natural (and social) selection. On the other hand the psychoneural identity hypothesis fits in with biology and, in particular, with evolutionary biology. Moreover, by construing ideation as a brain process, psychoneural monism explains how ideas (via behaviour) can become a motor of evolution as well as an outcome of it. So, it is in the interest of evolutionary psychologists to pay closer attention to the mind-body problem and to adopt the psychoneural identity hypothesis and turn it into a full-fledged scientific theory.