Evolutionary Approaches to Human Behavior: Philosophical Aspects

Evolutionary approaches to human behavior date back to Charles Darwin, though they were somewhat eclipsed in the first half of the twentieth century. They began to become more prominent, as evolutionary studies of animal behavior matured as a scientific discipline in the middle of the twentieth century. The sociobiological approach prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s has been succeeded by a variety of approaches, including human behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, and gene-culture coevolution or dual inheritance theory. This article details the inception, prominent proponents, key features, representative case studies, and major criticisms of each of these three current approaches. It also notes the current trends in the field, toward greater use of computer models and experimental methods in studying human behavioral evolution.