Evolution of human jealousy : a just-so story or a just-so criticism?

Neven SESARDIC

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To operationalize the methodological assessment of evolutionary psychology, three requirements are proposed that, if satisfied, would show that a hypothesis is not a just-so story: (1) theoretical entrenchment (i.e., that the hypothesis under consideration is a consequence of a more fundamental theory that is empirically well-confirmed across a very wide range of phenomena), (2) predictive success (i.e., that the hypothesis generates concrete predictions that make it testable and eventually to a certain extent corroborated), and (3) failure of rival explanations (i.e., that crucial and successful predictions attributed to the hypothesis in question cannot be derived from alternative hypotheses). The author argues that the hypothesis about evolutionary sex differences in human jealousy satisfies all three requirements.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)427-443
Number of pages17
JournalPhilosophy of the Social Sciences
Volume33
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2003

Keywords

  • Adaptationism
  • Evolutionary psychology
  • Philosophy of science
  • Testability

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