Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-f46jp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-15T06:05:51.055Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Advancing paleoanthropology beyond default nulls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2025

Matteo Bedetti  and
Colin Allen Open the ORCID record for Colin Allen [Opens in a new window]
Matteo Bedetti
Affiliation:
Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy m.bedetti1@campus.uniurb.it
Colin Allen*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA colinallen@ucsb.edu https://colinallen.dnsalias.org/
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

While we are sympathetic with Stibbard-Hawkes’ approach, we disagree with the proposal to switch to a “cognitively modern” null for all Homo species. We argue in favor of a more evidence-driven approach, inspired by recent debates in comparative cognition. Ultimately, parsing the contributions of different genetic and extra-genetic factors in human evolution is more promising than setting a priori nulls.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e3
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, K., & Huss, B. (2014). Anthropomorphism, anthropectomy, and the null hypothesis. Biology & Philosophy, 29, 711–729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-014-9442-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, L. R., Hawks, J., Fuentes, A., van Rooyen, D., Tsikoane, M., Ramalepa, M., … Molopyane, K. (2023b). 241,000 to 335,000 years old rock engravings made by Homo naledi in the rising star cave system, South Africa. bioRxiv, 2023-06. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89102.1Google Scholar
Berger, L. R., Makhubela, T., Molopyane, K., Krüger, A., Randolph-Quinney, P., Elliott, M., … Hawks, J. (2023a). Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi. bioRxiv, 2023-06. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89106.1Google Scholar
Dennett, D. C. (1983) Intentional systems in cognitive ethology: The “Panglossian paradigm” defended. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 6(3), 343–355. doi:10.1017/S0140525X00016393CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzpatrick, S. (2008). Doing away with Morgan's Canon. Mind & Language, 23(2), 224–246. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0017.2007.00338.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuentes, A., Kissel, M., Spikins, P., Molopyane, K., Hawks, J., & Berger, L. R. (2023). Burials and engravings in a small-brained hominin, Homo naledi, from the late Pleistocene: Contexts and evolutionary implications. bioRxiv, 2023-06. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89125.1Google Scholar
Klein, R. G. (2000) Archeology and the evolution of human behavior. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News and Reviews 9, 17–36.3.0.CO;2-A>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, R. G. (2008). Out of Africa and the evolution of human behavior. Evolutionary Anthropology, 17(6), 267–281. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.20181CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikhalevich, I. (2015) Experiment and animal minds: Why the choice of the null hypothesis matters. Philosophy of Science, 82(5), 1059–1069. doi:10.1086/683440CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, C. L. (1894). An introduction to comparative psychology. Walter Scott Publishing Co.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sober, E. (2005). Comparative psychology meets evolutionary biology: Morgan's canon and cladistic parsimony. In Daston, L. and Mitman, G. (eds), Thinking with animals: New perspectives on anthropomorphism (pp. 85–99). Columbia University Press.Google Scholar