John D Thorpe - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by John D Thorpe

The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis , 2024

This document outlines the concept of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) as formulated by ... more This document outlines the concept of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) as formulated by a number of primary researchers in the field. The EES seeks to expand and amplify the former Modern Synthesis (MS) that grew out of the amalgamation of Darwinian evolutionary theory and the innovative research on genetics and molecular theory during the twentieth century. This EES reformulation effort is a work in progress and has been the source of much confusion and debate. This essay seeks to clarify this confusion and to lay out the parameters of this debate. As background to the debate, we begin with the 1982 statement of the "evolutionary synthesis" by E. Mayr followed by the 1999 attempt of R. Dawkins to outline his version of the "extended phenotype." The bulk of the document attempts to summarize the core concepts of Kevin Laland and his associates who include theorists and researchers who were prominent innovators in the early and later formulations of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, namely K.

HUXLEY HIMSELF1, 2020

This essay series, titled "Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment-The Vi... more This essay series, titled "Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment-The Virtue of Critical Inquiry?" examines the effort of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker to account for and justify the transformative impact of Darwinian evolution upon the intellectual, emotional, and moral lives of humanity. The series explores the struggle of humanity first, to understand the cosmos that was revealed by the discoveries of Darwinian evolution, second, to manage the intellectual, emotional and moral implications of these discoveries, and third, to assess the dangers and the benefits of the processes of inquiry that created the revolution within which we all now must live.

DEWEY HIMSELF, 2020

This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The ... more This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The Critical Virtue of Inquiry” examines the effort of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker to account for and justify the transformative impact of Darwinian evolution upon the intellectual, emotional, and moral lives of humanity. The series explores the struggle of humanity first, to understand the cosmos that was revealed by the discoveries of Darwinian evolution, second, to manage the intellectual, emotional and moral implications of these discoveries, and third, to assess the dangers and the benefits of the processes of inquiry that created the revolution within which we all now must live.

Steven Pinker, 2020

This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The ... more This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The Critical Virtue of Inquiry” examines the effort of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker to account for and justify the transformative impact of Darwinian evolution upon the intellectual, emotional, and moral lives of humanity. The series explores the struggle of humanity first, to understand the cosmos that was revealed by the discoveries of Darwinian evolution, second, to manage the intellectual, emotional and moral implications of these discoveries, and third, to assess the dangers and the benefits of the processes of inquiry that created the revolution within which we all now must live.

We live in a time of tumult, fear and outright anger. What has brought the majority of us to this... more We live in a time of tumult, fear and outright anger. What has brought the majority of us to this anxiety-riddled state? The causes are very well known: wealth inequality of fantastic proportions, a series of financial disasters leading to the Great Recession of 2008 that devastated the post-war economic boom, the violent conflict between religious and secular views which resulted in the 9/11 terror, life-changing technical, physical and biological innovations, the disruptive influence of right-wing-inspired political authoritarianism, and, finally, the raging devastation of the COVID virus made worse by irrational conservative right-wing attacks, led by Donald Trump, upon the scientific expertise seeking to control that virus. People have become desperate to re-discover or create anew an optimistic intellectual and moral vision to stabilize a world that has been “turned upside down.” Where can they turn to find such intellectual and moral perspective? This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The Critical Virtue of Inquiry” examines the effort of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker to account for and justify the transformative impact of Darwinian evolution upon the intellectual, emotional, and moral lives of humanity. The first three essays outlined, separately, the views of Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker. This fourth essay explores the similarities and differences among Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker with regard to their naturalistic conceptions of empirical scientific inquiry and its revolutionary implications for scientific method, individual moral values, social progressivism, and political democracy.

Huxley, Dewey, Pinker Critique, 2021

This last essay in the series offers the following: 1. An outline of the broad historical perspec... more This last essay in the series offers the following: 1. An outline of the broad historical perspectives that provide context to an appreciation of the ideas of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker. 2. Outline four Case Studies useful for the analysis and application of their ideas. 3. Offer a brief summary of their main arguments. 4. Set out the major implications for practice that need to be drawn from their ideas if any fruitful action is to be taken to understand and promote the progress that they envision.

The United States has entered a new era of economic, social, religious, and political change. The... more The United States has entered a new era of economic, social, religious, and political change. These changes have created uncertainty, turmoil and self-doubt at all levels of American society. Many people have endeavored to assess the causes of these changes and to suggest possible remedies. This essay explores the efforts of one of these thinkers – Michael Lind. It outlines his conception of the causes of these changes and his suggestions as to how the United States might be returned to progress and stability.

Recently Niall Ferguson has begun a major assessment of the diplomatic career of Henry Kissinger.... more Recently Niall Ferguson has begun a major assessment of the diplomatic career of Henry Kissinger. In his first volume of Kissinger (2015) Ferguson claims to have exploded the myth of Kissinger as the arch “realist” of American foreign policy. Ferguson puts this claim starkly when he asserts: “the young Kissinger was indeed an idealist.” (Ferguson, K, 32) This claim serves to breath more life into the ongoing debate between the proponents of the so-called “realist” and the “idealist” perspectives in international relations.

This essay will offer a perspective on this debate by using Henry Kissinger’s conception of foreign policy as a case study. If any American is widely supposed to embody the realist perspective it is Henry Kissinger who was indirectly and directly involved in the formulation of American foreign policy from the very beginning of the Cold War right through to the end of the Vietnam War and into the present.

Political “realists” often reject conceptions of political justice which argue that moral conside... more Political “realists” often reject conceptions of political justice which argue that moral considerations should inform political decisions. The debate between political “realists” and “moralist-idealist” theorists is still current. (Rossi & Sleat, 2014; Jubb, forthcoming) Rossi and Sleat (2014) ask “To What extent is Rawls a “realist”?” This essay attempts to provide one answer to this question by approaching from the direction of Stuart Hampshire’s Justice is Conflict, (2000) in which Hampshire outlines his “realist” perspective on political justice and puts a challenge to the “moralist-idealist” conception of justice as fairness offered by John Rawls in A Theory of Justice.

This essay will use Hampshire’s “realist” arguments as an opportunity to assess the legitimacy of the “realist” critique of Rawls’ ostensibly hyper “idealist-moralist” conception of justice by focusing on Rawls’ formulation in his Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, (2001).

Is the moral essence of America “public virtue” or “liberal competitive opportunism”? Or is A... more Is the moral essence of America “public virtue” or “liberal competitive opportunism”?

Or is America attempting to square the circle? Is America striving to maintain a politics and culture of freedom through which it can achieve shared public benefits through strenuous individual and group competition?

One way to try to answer these questions is to examine the political and cultural ideas which were fulminating during the pre- and post-Revolutionary history of America. Can we say that America was born into and grew out of any predominant political-cultural intellectual tradition or family of ideas? Or was the origin of America the result of a constructive synthesis or perhaps a tumultuous fulmination of two or even more intellectual and emotional forces being manifested in a boisterous new world? This document will attempt to trace, through various major historians, two of the most recognized intellectual traditions of American political-cultural thought. It will also recognize the possibility of the presence of other traditions that have not been allowed much prominence in the historical debates about America’s intellectual origins and development.

Do global corporations dominate national governments around the world? What is the nature of the ... more Do global corporations dominate national governments around the world? What is the nature of the relationship between state governments and international corporations? Four distinct positions are identified and outlined: 1. yes, corporations are dominant and have a negative effect; 2. yes, corporations are dominant, but this is a positive arrangement; 3, yes, but the real powers are the nexus of national and international government, financial, trade and industrial organizations which have been created by the Western nations; and 4. the relationship between corporations and state governments is too complex to be fit into any either/or framework.

In my document “Too Smart For Our Own Good? Niche Construction, Epigenetic Development, and Human... more In my document “Too Smart For Our Own Good? Niche Construction, Epigenetic Development, and Human Culture - West-Eberhard & Odling-Smee” I outlined the groundbreaking epigenetic research of West-Eberhard and Odling-Smee and associates. This document seeks to expand this exploration of the implications of epigenetics on human behavior. The work of these two researchers is focused mainly on the dynamic molecular-genetic-phenotypic interaction between the organism and its internal and external environment. This document is meant to be a companion document to my Humans, The Rogue Species?, which raises disturbing questions about the evolutionary processes that might account for the profoundly threatening impact that the human species has had on the planet and its other species. Referring to the well documented event of global warming, and other equally well established global threat events, that document asks the following basic question:

Has the human species evolved into a maladaptive species relative to itself, other species and the earth? If so, how has this evolutionary process occurred?

This present document presents research that counts toward answering this challenging question. It outlines research that uncovers the broader epigenetic relationships between the human species and its social-cultural-ecological world. It includes research on developmental phenotypic plasticity, neo-cortical development and function, the evolution of cognitive functions, evolutionary psychology, cultural adaptation, and social selection.

Naturalistic epistemology begins with the assumption that human inquiry (epistemology itself) cou... more Naturalistic epistemology begins with the assumption that human inquiry (epistemology itself) could have arisen only from and exist only within the world of time and space, the evolving physical universe, the evolving human organism. Knowing and not knowing (epistemologizing) emerged as an embodied action, a manifestation of survival, a life-process in time and space.

Naturalistic epistemology has emerged in dynamic relation with philosophy, sociology, psychology, biology and genetics. Naturalistic epistemology understands itself as striving to understand the bio-physiological processes that manifest the human activity of thought and emotion – the processes that are involved in the human ability to say “I know”, “I understand”, “I imagine”, “I accomplish”, “I invent”, “I am inspired”. Naturalistic epistemology is rooted in the traditions of realism, the physical sciences, pragmatism. This essay outlines some of the major theoretical approaches to this area of study.

The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis , 2024

This document outlines the concept of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) as formulated by ... more This document outlines the concept of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) as formulated by a number of primary researchers in the field. The EES seeks to expand and amplify the former Modern Synthesis (MS) that grew out of the amalgamation of Darwinian evolutionary theory and the innovative research on genetics and molecular theory during the twentieth century. This EES reformulation effort is a work in progress and has been the source of much confusion and debate. This essay seeks to clarify this confusion and to lay out the parameters of this debate. As background to the debate, we begin with the 1982 statement of the "evolutionary synthesis" by E. Mayr followed by the 1999 attempt of R. Dawkins to outline his version of the "extended phenotype." The bulk of the document attempts to summarize the core concepts of Kevin Laland and his associates who include theorists and researchers who were prominent innovators in the early and later formulations of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, namely K.

HUXLEY HIMSELF1, 2020

This essay series, titled "Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment-The Vi... more This essay series, titled "Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment-The Virtue of Critical Inquiry?" examines the effort of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker to account for and justify the transformative impact of Darwinian evolution upon the intellectual, emotional, and moral lives of humanity. The series explores the struggle of humanity first, to understand the cosmos that was revealed by the discoveries of Darwinian evolution, second, to manage the intellectual, emotional and moral implications of these discoveries, and third, to assess the dangers and the benefits of the processes of inquiry that created the revolution within which we all now must live.

DEWEY HIMSELF, 2020

This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The ... more This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The Critical Virtue of Inquiry” examines the effort of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker to account for and justify the transformative impact of Darwinian evolution upon the intellectual, emotional, and moral lives of humanity. The series explores the struggle of humanity first, to understand the cosmos that was revealed by the discoveries of Darwinian evolution, second, to manage the intellectual, emotional and moral implications of these discoveries, and third, to assess the dangers and the benefits of the processes of inquiry that created the revolution within which we all now must live.

Steven Pinker, 2020

This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The ... more This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The Critical Virtue of Inquiry” examines the effort of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker to account for and justify the transformative impact of Darwinian evolution upon the intellectual, emotional, and moral lives of humanity. The series explores the struggle of humanity first, to understand the cosmos that was revealed by the discoveries of Darwinian evolution, second, to manage the intellectual, emotional and moral implications of these discoveries, and third, to assess the dangers and the benefits of the processes of inquiry that created the revolution within which we all now must live.

We live in a time of tumult, fear and outright anger. What has brought the majority of us to this... more We live in a time of tumult, fear and outright anger. What has brought the majority of us to this anxiety-riddled state? The causes are very well known: wealth inequality of fantastic proportions, a series of financial disasters leading to the Great Recession of 2008 that devastated the post-war economic boom, the violent conflict between religious and secular views which resulted in the 9/11 terror, life-changing technical, physical and biological innovations, the disruptive influence of right-wing-inspired political authoritarianism, and, finally, the raging devastation of the COVID virus made worse by irrational conservative right-wing attacks, led by Donald Trump, upon the scientific expertise seeking to control that virus. People have become desperate to re-discover or create anew an optimistic intellectual and moral vision to stabilize a world that has been “turned upside down.” Where can they turn to find such intellectual and moral perspective? This essay series, titled “Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker: Evolution, Science and Enlightenment - The Critical Virtue of Inquiry” examines the effort of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker to account for and justify the transformative impact of Darwinian evolution upon the intellectual, emotional, and moral lives of humanity. The first three essays outlined, separately, the views of Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker. This fourth essay explores the similarities and differences among Huxley, Dewey, and Pinker with regard to their naturalistic conceptions of empirical scientific inquiry and its revolutionary implications for scientific method, individual moral values, social progressivism, and political democracy.

Huxley, Dewey, Pinker Critique, 2021

This last essay in the series offers the following: 1. An outline of the broad historical perspec... more This last essay in the series offers the following: 1. An outline of the broad historical perspectives that provide context to an appreciation of the ideas of Thomas Huxley, John Dewey, and Steven Pinker. 2. Outline four Case Studies useful for the analysis and application of their ideas. 3. Offer a brief summary of their main arguments. 4. Set out the major implications for practice that need to be drawn from their ideas if any fruitful action is to be taken to understand and promote the progress that they envision.

The United States has entered a new era of economic, social, religious, and political change. The... more The United States has entered a new era of economic, social, religious, and political change. These changes have created uncertainty, turmoil and self-doubt at all levels of American society. Many people have endeavored to assess the causes of these changes and to suggest possible remedies. This essay explores the efforts of one of these thinkers – Michael Lind. It outlines his conception of the causes of these changes and his suggestions as to how the United States might be returned to progress and stability.

Recently Niall Ferguson has begun a major assessment of the diplomatic career of Henry Kissinger.... more Recently Niall Ferguson has begun a major assessment of the diplomatic career of Henry Kissinger. In his first volume of Kissinger (2015) Ferguson claims to have exploded the myth of Kissinger as the arch “realist” of American foreign policy. Ferguson puts this claim starkly when he asserts: “the young Kissinger was indeed an idealist.” (Ferguson, K, 32) This claim serves to breath more life into the ongoing debate between the proponents of the so-called “realist” and the “idealist” perspectives in international relations.

This essay will offer a perspective on this debate by using Henry Kissinger’s conception of foreign policy as a case study. If any American is widely supposed to embody the realist perspective it is Henry Kissinger who was indirectly and directly involved in the formulation of American foreign policy from the very beginning of the Cold War right through to the end of the Vietnam War and into the present.

Political “realists” often reject conceptions of political justice which argue that moral conside... more Political “realists” often reject conceptions of political justice which argue that moral considerations should inform political decisions. The debate between political “realists” and “moralist-idealist” theorists is still current. (Rossi & Sleat, 2014; Jubb, forthcoming) Rossi and Sleat (2014) ask “To What extent is Rawls a “realist”?” This essay attempts to provide one answer to this question by approaching from the direction of Stuart Hampshire’s Justice is Conflict, (2000) in which Hampshire outlines his “realist” perspective on political justice and puts a challenge to the “moralist-idealist” conception of justice as fairness offered by John Rawls in A Theory of Justice.

This essay will use Hampshire’s “realist” arguments as an opportunity to assess the legitimacy of the “realist” critique of Rawls’ ostensibly hyper “idealist-moralist” conception of justice by focusing on Rawls’ formulation in his Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, (2001).

Is the moral essence of America “public virtue” or “liberal competitive opportunism”? Or is A... more Is the moral essence of America “public virtue” or “liberal competitive opportunism”?

Or is America attempting to square the circle? Is America striving to maintain a politics and culture of freedom through which it can achieve shared public benefits through strenuous individual and group competition?

One way to try to answer these questions is to examine the political and cultural ideas which were fulminating during the pre- and post-Revolutionary history of America. Can we say that America was born into and grew out of any predominant political-cultural intellectual tradition or family of ideas? Or was the origin of America the result of a constructive synthesis or perhaps a tumultuous fulmination of two or even more intellectual and emotional forces being manifested in a boisterous new world? This document will attempt to trace, through various major historians, two of the most recognized intellectual traditions of American political-cultural thought. It will also recognize the possibility of the presence of other traditions that have not been allowed much prominence in the historical debates about America’s intellectual origins and development.

Do global corporations dominate national governments around the world? What is the nature of the ... more Do global corporations dominate national governments around the world? What is the nature of the relationship between state governments and international corporations? Four distinct positions are identified and outlined: 1. yes, corporations are dominant and have a negative effect; 2. yes, corporations are dominant, but this is a positive arrangement; 3, yes, but the real powers are the nexus of national and international government, financial, trade and industrial organizations which have been created by the Western nations; and 4. the relationship between corporations and state governments is too complex to be fit into any either/or framework.

In my document “Too Smart For Our Own Good? Niche Construction, Epigenetic Development, and Human... more In my document “Too Smart For Our Own Good? Niche Construction, Epigenetic Development, and Human Culture - West-Eberhard & Odling-Smee” I outlined the groundbreaking epigenetic research of West-Eberhard and Odling-Smee and associates. This document seeks to expand this exploration of the implications of epigenetics on human behavior. The work of these two researchers is focused mainly on the dynamic molecular-genetic-phenotypic interaction between the organism and its internal and external environment. This document is meant to be a companion document to my Humans, The Rogue Species?, which raises disturbing questions about the evolutionary processes that might account for the profoundly threatening impact that the human species has had on the planet and its other species. Referring to the well documented event of global warming, and other equally well established global threat events, that document asks the following basic question:

Has the human species evolved into a maladaptive species relative to itself, other species and the earth? If so, how has this evolutionary process occurred?

This present document presents research that counts toward answering this challenging question. It outlines research that uncovers the broader epigenetic relationships between the human species and its social-cultural-ecological world. It includes research on developmental phenotypic plasticity, neo-cortical development and function, the evolution of cognitive functions, evolutionary psychology, cultural adaptation, and social selection.

Naturalistic epistemology begins with the assumption that human inquiry (epistemology itself) cou... more Naturalistic epistemology begins with the assumption that human inquiry (epistemology itself) could have arisen only from and exist only within the world of time and space, the evolving physical universe, the evolving human organism. Knowing and not knowing (epistemologizing) emerged as an embodied action, a manifestation of survival, a life-process in time and space.

Naturalistic epistemology has emerged in dynamic relation with philosophy, sociology, psychology, biology and genetics. Naturalistic epistemology understands itself as striving to understand the bio-physiological processes that manifest the human activity of thought and emotion – the processes that are involved in the human ability to say “I know”, “I understand”, “I imagine”, “I accomplish”, “I invent”, “I am inspired”. Naturalistic epistemology is rooted in the traditions of realism, the physical sciences, pragmatism. This essay outlines some of the major theoretical approaches to this area of study.