Henry Plotkin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 December 1940[1] Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Died | 15 December 2021 (aged 81)[2] |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of the Witwatersrand |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Evolutionary theory, evolutionary epistemology, cultural evolution, evolutionary psychology |
| Institutions | University College London |
| Doctoral students | Kevin Lala, Cecilia Heyes |
Henry Charles Plotkin (11 December 1940 – 15 December 2021) was a British evolutionary psychologist who applied Darwinian principles to the understanding of the mind, behavior, culture and knowledge.
Early life and education
[edit]Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Plotkin completed his undergraduate studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.[1] In 1964, he relocated to the United Kingdom and earned a doctorate in physiological psychology from University College London in 1968.[1]
Academic career
[edit]From 1965 to 1972, Plotkin worked as a research scientist at the Medical Research Council. He spent two years (1970–1972) as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. Upon returning to the UK, he joined University College London as a lecturer. He was promoted to Reader in 1988 and became a professor in 1993. He was head of the Psychology Department at UCL from 1993 to 1998 [3] and was named Emeritus Professor in 2005.
His doctoral students include Kevin Lala and Cecilia Heyes.[citation needed]
Contributions
[edit]- Evolutionary Psychology: Plotkin's work helped establish the field of evolutionary psychology with accessible overviews like "Evolution in Mind" that explained how natural selection shaped the human mindy.[4] Plotkin applied evolutionary principles to psychological topics like learning, intelligence, and memory.
- Cultural Evolution: Plotkin wrote extensively on evolution and culture.[5][6][7][8] In "The Imagined World Made Real," Plotkin brought an evolutionary approach to analyzing culture, arguing it evolves through Darwinian mechanisms.[9] This helped start the study of cultural evolution and gene-culture coevolution as scientific disciplines.
- Behavior's Role in Evolution: Plotkin's book "The Role of Behavior in Evolution" underscored how behavior is not just an evolutionary outcome, but a key driver shaping trajectories.[10] This work influenced later research emphasizing animal agency in evolution through niche construction.
- Evolutionary Epistemology: Plotkin pioneered the field of evolutionary epistemology, which analyzes the growth of knowledge from a Darwinian perspective.[11] In his "Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge", he proposed modeling the mind as a Darwin machine that accumulates knowledge via evolutionary processes of variation, selection, and retention.[12]
Bibliography
[edit]Books
[edit]- Learning, Development and Culture: Essays in Evolutionary Epistemology (1982). Wiley–Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-471-10219-9
- Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge (1994). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-19280-X
- Evolution in Mind: An Introduction to Evolutionary Psychology (1998). Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-27120-3
- The Imagined World Made Real: Towards a Natural Science of Culture (2002). Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9408-7
- The Role of Behavior in Evolution, ed. (2008). The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-51222-0
- Evolutionary Worlds without End. (2010). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-954495-0
Articles
[edit]- Pribram, K. H.; Plotkin, H. C.; Anderson, R. M.; Leong, D. (1977). "Information sources in the delayed alternation task for normal and 'frontal' monkeys". Neuropsychologia. 15 (2): 329–340.
- Plotkin, Henry C.; Odling-Smee, F. J. (1979). "Learning, change, and evolution: an enquiry into the teleonomy of learning". In Advances in the Study of Behavior. 10: 1–41. Academic Press.
- Plotkin, H.C.; Odling-Smee, F.J. (1979). "Learning, Change, and Evolution: An Enquiry into the Teleonomy of Learning". Advances in the Study of Behavior. 10: 1–41. doi:10.1016/S0065-3454(08)60092-3
- Plotkin, H. C.; Odling-Smee, F. J. (1981). "A multiple-level model of evolution and its implications for sociobiology". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 4 (2): 225–235. doi:10.1017/S0140525X00008566
- Heyes, Celia M.; Plotkin, Henry C. (1989). "Replicators and interactors in cultural evolution". In What the philosophy of biology is: Essays dedicated to David Hull. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. pp. 139–162.
- Plotkin, H.C. (1987). "Evolutionary epistemology as science". Biol Philos. 2: 295–313. doi:10.1007/BF00128835
- Plotkin, H.C. (1995). "Non-genetic transmission of information: Candidate cognitive processes and the evolution of culture". Behavioural Processes. 35 (1–3): 207–213. doi:10.1016/0376-6357(95)00056-9
- Plotkin, Henry (2011). "Human nature, cultural diversity and evolutionary theory". Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 366: 454–463. doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0160
- Plotkin, Henry (2012). "The power of culture". In Barrett, Louise; Dunbar, Robin (eds.). Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. pp. 11–20. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198568308.013.0002 ISBN 978-0-19-856830-8
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Plotkin, Henry Charles (2011). Rubinstein, W.; Jolles, Michael A. (eds.). Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 760. ISBN 9780230304666. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ [1] The Times Births, marriages and deaths: 22 December 2021
- ^ Hevern, Vincent W.; Valentine, Elizabeth R.; Spilka, Bernard; Gundlach, Horst; Thomas, Roger K.; Gundlach, Horst; Gundlach, Horst (2012). "University College London, History of Psychology at". Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories. pp. 1144–1146. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8_222. ISBN 978-1-4419-0425-6.
- ^ Plotkin, Henry C. (1998). Evolution in Mind. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-27120-3.
- ^ Heyes, Celia M.; Plotkin, Henry C. (1989). "Replicators and interactors in cultural evolution". What the philosophy of biology is: Essays dedicated to David Hull. Springer Netherlands. pp. 139–162.
- ^ Plotkin, H.C. (1987). "Evolutionary epistemology as science". Biol Philos. 2 (3): 295–313. doi:10.1007/BF00128835.
- ^ Plotkin, H.C. (1995). "Non-genetic transmission of information: Candidate cognitive processes and the evolution of culture". Behavioural Processes. 35 (1–3): 207–213. doi:10.1016/0376-6357(95)00056-9.
- ^ Plotkin, Henry (2012). "The power of culture". In Barrett, Louise; Dunbar, Robin (eds.). Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Oxford University Press. pp. 11–20. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198568308.013.0002. ISBN 978-0198568308.
- ^ Plotkin, Henry (2002). The Imagined World Made Real: Towards a Natural Science of Culture. Allen Lane. ISBN 9780713994087.
- ^ Plotkin, Henry (2008). The Role of Behavior in Evolution. The MIT Press. ISBN 9780262512220.
- ^ Plotkin, H. C. (1987). "Evolutionary epistemology as science". Biology & Philosophy. 2 (3): 295–313. doi:10.1007/BF00128835.
- ^ Plotkin, Henry C. (1994). Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-19280-X.
