Plotkin is a psychologist and his book places most emphasis on learning or the acquisition of knowledge and the cultural transmission of that knowledge. It is an extended essay on ‘evolutionary epistemology,’ a phrase coined by D. T. Campbell and rightly seen by Plotkin as a barrier to understanding. Indeed, one of this book’s great virtues is that Plotkin writes incomparably more clearly than most others who have ventured into these fields. His exposition, even of complex issues, is beautifully lucid, his arguments well thought through and his illustrations apt.
-- Nature
Plotkin makes evolutionary epistemology accessible to nonspecialists, developing a model in which sense-based knowledge anchors mind-based knowledge, coupling more tightly to individual intelligence than to the ‘knowledge’ constructs of cultures. Plotkin offers an extremely readable account and defense of evolutionary epistemology, a prominent, if controversial, position in contemporary philosophy of science.
-- Science, Technology & Society
Plotkin ties together philosophy, evolutionary biology, and psychology to provide a new examination of the science of knowledge. The nature of learning and intelligence are seen as the extension of instincts that are deeply rooted in our biology… Plotkin is excellent at describing difficult and convoluted issues.
-- Choice
In his Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge, Plotkin does for evolutionary epistemology what Richard Dawkins did for gene selectionism in The Selfish Gene. As in the case of gene selectionist versions of evolutionary theory, most of the work in evolutionary epistemology is highly esoteric and extremely hard to follow. Plotkin decided that it was time to summarize the advances in ways that more general readers can comprehend and appreciate. He has simplified this large literature without distorting it. I read the book with enjoyment.
An outstanding example of a bold and thought-provoking struggle for a unified viewpoint on the nature of knowledge. Plotkin’s intention is not just to show connections between various accounts of knowledge from evolutionary biologists, psychologists, and philosophers—he is going for more. He attempts to develop a unified point of view based on Darwin and twentieth-century evolutionary epistemology. This book is extremely lucid, clear, and well-written.
