Folkbiology

The term folkbiology refers to peoples everyday understanding of the biological world—how they perceive categorize and reason about living kinds. The study of folkbiology not only sheds light on human nature it may ultimately help us make the transition to a global economy without irreparably damaging the environment or destroying local cultures.This book takes an interdisciplinary approach bringing together the work of researchers in anthropology cognitive and developmental psychology biology and philosophy of science. The issues covered include: Are folk taxonomies a first-order approximation to classical scientific taxonomies or are they driven more directly by utilitarian concerns? How are these category schemes linked to reasoning about natural kinds? Is there any nontrivial sense in which folk-taxonomic structures are universal? What impact does science have on folk taxonomy? Together the chapters present the current foundations of folkbiology and indicate new directions in research.ContributorsScott Atran Terry Kit-fong Au Brent Berlin K. David Bishop John D. Coley Jared Diamond John Dupré Roy Ellen Susan A. Gelman Michael T. Ghiselin Grant Gutheil Giyoo Hatano Lawrence A. Hirschfeld David L. Hull Eugene Hunn Kayoko Inagaki Frank C. Keil Daniel T. Levin Elizabeth Lynch Douglas L. Medin Julia Beth Proffitt Bethany A. Richman Laura F. Romo Sandra R. Waxman