Cognitive Archaeology and the Minimum Necessary Competence Problem.Anton Killin &Ross Pain -2023 -Biological Theory 18 (4):269-283.detailsCognitive archaeologists attempt to infer the cognitive and cultural features of past hominins and their societies from the material record. This task faces the problem of _minimum necessary competence_: as the most sophisticated thinking of ancient hominins may have been in domains that leave no archaeological signature, it is safest to assume that tool production and use reflects only the lower boundary of cognitive capacities. Cognitive archaeology involves selecting a model from the cognitive sciences and then assessing some aspect of (...) the material record through that lens. We give examples to show that background theoretical commitments in cognitive science that inform those models lead to different minimum necessary competence results. This raises an important question: what principles should guide us in selecting a model from the cognitive sciences? We outline two complementary responses to this question. The first involves using _independent_ lines of evidence to converge on a particular capacity. This can then influence model choice. The second is a broader suggestion. Theoretical diversity is a good thing in science, but is only beneficial over a limited amount of time. According to recent modelling work, one way of limiting diversity is to introduce extreme priors. We argue that having a broad spectrum of views in the philosophy of cognitive science may actually help cognitive archaeologists address the problem of minimum necessary competence. (shrink)
Culture, Cooperation, and Communication: The Co-evolution of Hominin Cognition, Sociality, and Musicality.Anton Killin -2024 -British Journal of Aesthetics 64 (3):335-360.detailsMusic is a deeply entrenched human phenomenon. In this article, I argue that its evolutionary origins are intrinsically intertwined with the incremental anatomical, cognitive, social, and technological evolution of the hominin lineage. I propose an account of the evolution of Plio-Pleistocene hominins, focusing on traits that would be later implicated in music making. Such traits can be conceived as comprising the musicality mosaic or the multifaceted foundations of musicality. I then articulate and defend an account of protomusical behaviour, drawing theoretical (...) licence from the social brain framework of Robin Dunbar and colleagues, as well as the evolutionary framework for human culture and cooperation developed by Kim Sterelny. The role of gene-culture co-evolution and niche construction is brought to the fore in articulating the evolutionary account. Finally, I defend the view that music subsequently developed via processes of social learning and cumulative culture. (shrink)
An Integrative Literature Review of Social Entrepreneurship Research: Mapping the Literature and Future Research Directions.Anton Klarin &Yuliani Suseno -2023 -Business and Society 62 (3):565-611.detailsThis article maps existing research from 5,874 scholarly publications on social entrepreneurship (SE) utilizing scientometrics. The mapping indicates a taxonomy of five clusters: (a) the nature of SE, (b) policy implications and employment in relation to SE, (c) SE in communities and health, (d) SE personality traits, and (e) SE education. We complement the scientometric analysis with a systematic literature review of publications on SE in the Financial Times 50 list (FT50) and Business & Society and propose a multistage, multilevel (...) framework that highlights the clusters of existing research on SE based on their stage and level of analysis. This review study also helps outline a set of future research directions, including studies examining (a) the process stage at the micro-level and macro-level, (b) linkages across levels and stages, (c) linkages across stages over time or longitudinal studies, (d) SE in resource-constrained environments, (e) technological advancement and its impact on SE, (f) the types of social enterprises and their outcomes, and (g) various emerging topics in SE. (shrink)
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Plio-Pleistocene Foundations of Hominin Musicality: Coevolution of Cognition, Sociality, and Music.Anton Killin -2017 -Biological Theory 12 (4):222-235.detailsToday, music is ubiquitous, highly valued in all known cultures, playing many roles in human daily life. The ethnographic study of the music of extant human foragers makes this quite apparent. Moreover, music is ancient. Sophisticated bird-bone and ivory flutes dated from 40 kya reveal an even earlier musical-technological tradition. So is music likely to be an entrenched feature of human social life during the long passage to behavioral modernity—say, by 150 kya—or earlier? In this article I sketch an evolutionary (...) model that focuses on hominin vocal musicality and communication in the Pleistocene, tracking between series of phenotypes and changes in ecological, social, cognitive, and informational contexts. The model links musicality and protomusic to a bigger picture of hominin socio-cognitive evolution, making some connections clearer, motivating further theorizing and the search for new evidence. (shrink)
Where did language come from? Connecting sign, song, and speech in hominin evolution.Anton Killin -2017 -Biology and Philosophy 32 (6):759-778.detailsRecently theorists have developed competing accounts of the origins and nature of protolanguage and the subsequent evolution of language. Debate over these accounts is lively. Participants ask: Is music a direct precursor of language? Were the first languages gestural? Or is language continuous with primate vocalizations, such as the alarm calls of vervets? In this article I survey the leading hypotheses and lines of evidence, favouring a largely gestural conception of protolanguage. However, the “sticking point” of gestural accounts, to use (...) Robbins Burling’s phrase, is the need to explain how language shifted to a largely vocal medium. So with a critical eye I consider Michael Corballis’s most recent expression of his ideas about this transition. Corballis’s view is an excellent foil to mine and I present it as such. Contrary to Corballis’s account, and developing Burling’s conjecture that musicality played some role, I argue that the foundations of an evolving musicality provided the means and medium for the shift from gestural to vocal dominance in language. In other words, I suggest that an independently evolving musicality prepared ancient hominins, morphologically and cognitively, for intentional articulate vocal production, enabling the evolution of speech. (shrink)
The Foundational Debate: Complexity and Constructivity in Mathematics and Physics.Roland Omnès,Anton Zeilinger,G. Cattaneo,M. L. Dalla Chiara &R. Giuntini -2010 - Springer.detailsConstructibility and complexity play central roles in recent research in computer science, mathematics and physics. For example, scientists are investigating the complexity of computer programs, constructive proofs in mathematics and the randomness of physical processes. But there are different approaches to the explication of these concepts. This volume presents important research on the state of this discussion, especially as it refers to quantum mechanics. This `foundational debate' in computer science, mathematics and physics was already fully developed in 1930 in the (...) Vienna Circle. A special section is devoted to its real founder Hans Hahn, referring to his contribution to the history and philosophy of science. The documentation section presents articles on the early Philipp Frank and on the Vienna Circle in exile. Reviews cover important recent literature on logical empiricism and related topics. (shrink)
Musicality and the evolution of mind, mimesis, and entrainment: Gary Tomlinson: A million years of music: the emergence of human modernity. Zone, New York, 2015.Anton Killin -2016 -Biology and Philosophy 31 (3):421-434.detailsIn A Million Years of Music, Gary Tomlinson develops an extensive evolutionary narrative that emphasises several important components of human musicality and proposes a theory of the coalescence of these components. In this essay I tie some of Tomlinson’s ideas to five constraints on theories of music’s evolution. This provides the framework for organising my reconstruction of his model. Thereafter I focus on Tomlinson’s description of ‘entraining’ Acheulean toolmakers and offer several criticisms. I close with some tentative proposals for further (...) theorising. (shrink)
Music Pluralism, Music Realism, and Music Archaeology.Anton Killin -2019 -Topoi 40 (1):261-272.detailsAccording to pluralism about some concept, there are multiple non-equivalent, legitimate concepts pertaining to the ontological category in question. It is an open question whether conceptual pluralism implies anti-realism about that category. In this article, I argue that at least for the case of music, it does not. To undermine the application of an influential move from pluralism to anti-realism, then, I provide an argument in support of indifference realism about music, by appeal to music archaeological research, via an analogy (...) with Adrian Currie’s indifference realism about species licensed by paleobiological research. (shrink)
Music Archaeology, Signaling Theory, Social Differentiation.Anton Killin -2021 - In Anton Killin & Sean Allen-Hermanson,Explorations in Archaeology and Philosophy. Springer Verlag. pp. 85-100.detailsMusical flutes constructed from bird bone and mammoth ivory begin to appear in the archaeological record from around 40,000 years ago. Due to the different physical demands of acquiring and working with these source materials in order to produce a flute, researchers have speculated about the significance—aesthetic or otherwise—of the use of mammoth ivory as a raw material for flutes. I argue that biological signaling theory provides a theoretical basis for the proposition that mammoth ivory flute production is a signal (...) of increasing social differentiation in Upper Palaeolithic human life. (shrink)
The Polysemy Theory of Sound.Anton Killin -2020 -Erkenntnis 87 (2):435-458.detailsTheorists have recently defended rival analyses of sound. The leading analyses reduce sound to sensations or mental representations, longitudinal compression waves, or sounding objects or events. Participants in the debate presuppose that because the features of the world targeted by these reductive strategies are distinct, at most one of the analyses is correct. In this article I argue that this presupposition is mistaken, endorsing a polysemy analysis of ‘sound’. Thus the ‘What is sound?’ debate is largely merely verbal, or so (...) I argue. All participants in this debate agree that there are the various reductions, they simply differ over which of them ‘is sound’. Yet there is no reason to think that, say, psychologists studying auditory sensations/representations, audio physicists studying sound waves, and anthropologists/ethnomusicologists studying sounding objects/events aren’t just studying different reductions of ‘sound’ despite the different explananda of their research. According to the polysemy theory of sound, we do not need to uniquely identify sound with one of these various explananda, outside of some context. (shrink)
Social care and individualised risk in a changing environment.Anton Killin -2022 -Metascience 31 (3):383-386.detailsReview of: Fiona MacDonald: Individualising risk (Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021, 223 pp, 130€ HB). MacDonald advances several claims. First, the ‘gig economy’ and ‘cash-for-care’ marketisation of social care and health support work come with major pitfalls: These are explored with reference to specific cases in Australia and England. Second, processes that underlie the individualisation of care need to be identified and critically evaluated. For when risk and responsibility are shifted onto individual workers, what we can expect to see, given the (...) evidence, is a marked decrease in the quality of care that the elderly and people with disability receive. [...]. (shrink)
Not by signalling alone: Music's mosaicism undermines the search for a proper function.Anton Killin,Carl Brusse,Adrian Currie &Ronald J. Planer -2021 -Behavioral and Brain Sciences 44.detailsMehr et al. seek to explain music's evolution in terms of a unitary proper function – signalling cooperative intent – which they cash out in two guises, coalition signalling and parental attention signalling. Although we recognize the role signalling almost certainly played in the evolution of music, we reject “ultimate” causal explanations which focus on a unidirectional, narrow range of causal factors.
Analyzing Antiqueness: A Response to Curtis and Baines.Anton Killin -2017 -Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 75 (2):195-197.detailsAestheticians should be excited by the prospects of a philosophy of antiques. It is to their merit that Curtis and Baines (2016) ignite philosophical discussion about this aesthetically and historically important category, so far overlooked by philosophers. And I agree with much they have to say on the topic. For one, I think the Adjectival Thesis they proffer is sound. That is, the term ‘antique’ does not denote a kind of object (it is not a kind sortal); rather, it modifies (...) objects—we can think of those modified objects as having “antique status.” But I do have several points of contention concerning their analysis. I hope these reservations will contribute to the project-in- progress that Curtis and Baines see their article as having sketched out. (shrink)
Scientific Studies of Individualization: A Thematic-Analytic Approach.Anton Killin -2025 -Perspectives on Science 33 (1):88-126.detailsThis article seeks to interpret how the scientific study of individualization, broadly construed, is conceived from within. It presents and discusses an analysis of qualitative data gained from performing semi-structured expert interviews. By way of a thematic-analytic approach to interpreting this data, this article seeks to investigate the attitudes and opinions of a sample of scientific experts who study individualization, across a wide range of scientific fields, with regard to key concepts, phenomena, motivating factors, and open questions. Centering its analysis (...) on discussion of four themes, this paper (1) emphasizes the importance for science of individuals and individuality, (2) reflects on matters pertaining to language and interdisciplinary communication, (3) distinguishes between nine meanings of the word “individualization,” stressing their significant features, and (4) considers ideas about the consequences of individualization and ongoing methodological concerns. (shrink)
Sociology: Inquiries Into the Construction of Social Forms.Anthony J. Blasi,Anton K. Jacobs &Mathew Kanjirathinkal (eds.) -2009 - Brill.detailsGeorg Simmel developed a "form" method for the newly revived field of sociology, drawing on the subjectivity/objectivity dialectic. While his book's organization differs from that of contemporary texts, his method remains implicit in the field to this day.
Reflections on imitation, vocal mimicry, and entrainment.Anton Killin -2016 -Aisthesis: Pratiche, Linguaggi E Saperi Dell’Estetico 9 (2):81-87.detailsIt is my contention that understanding natural phenomena such as vocal mimicry can bolster theories of the evolution of language and music as well as inform evolutionary and naturalistic aesthetics more generally. In this commentary I present this phenomena as a case study in order to stimulate further aesthetic theorising.
Culture, genes, selection, and learning: A response to Nichols, Mackey & Moll.Anton Killin &Ross Pain -2022 -Philosophical Psychology 35 (2):297-300.detailsIn 'How to create a cultural species: Evaluating three proposals', Nichols, Mackey, and Moll deliver a thoughtful and detailed assessment of three recent publications on human cultural evolution [from Cecilia Heyes, Kevin Laland, and Michael Tomasello]. Of these, NMM are most critical of Heyes. In this commentary, we interrogate four of those critcisms.
Works, Authors, Co‐Authorship, and Power: A Response to Hick.Anton Killin -2015 -Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 73 (3):334-337.detailsDarren Hudson Hick has recently presented a fascinating puzzle case for theories of co-authorship: Micro. However, contrary to his goal, Hick fails to establish Michael Crichton as a co-author of Micro. Here, I explain why. Consequently, Micro is not a counterexample to the theories of co-authorship.
The Twain Shall Meet: Themes at the Intersection of Archaeology and Philosophy.Anton Killin &Sean Allen-Hermanson -2021 - In Anton Killin & Sean Allen-Hermanson,Explorations in Archaeology and Philosophy. Springer Verlag. pp. 1-4.detailsExplorations in Archaeology and Philosophy grew out of an interdisciplinary conference on the Upper Palaeolithic, “Digging Deeper: Archaeological and Philosophical Perspectives”, held on Miami Beach, Florida, in December 2017. The previous decade had seen increasing numbers of publications on topics of interest to both philosophers and archaeologists, so the time was ripe for a conference which served to generate constructive dialogue between researchers from both disciplines. Themes discussed included art, music, the mind, symbols, mortuary practices, and archaeological methodology. This volume (...) draws from several contributors to that conference as well as other leading researchers at the forefront of the intersection of archaeology and philosophy. Its scope is expanded from the Upper Palaeolithic to archaeological research in general—adopting a broad conception inviting many perspectives from philosophy and interdisciplinary evolutionary studies to the table—and is organized by topics into four sections: Theory and Inference; Interdisciplinary Connections; Cognition, Language and Normativity; Ethical Issues. (shrink)
Політика російської імперії в східній галичині в роки першої світової війни. Національний аспект.Anton Karin -2016 -Схід 2 (142):39-47.detailsРассматриваются основные мероприятия российских властей в Галиции в годы Первой мировой войны. За годы войны в Галиции последовательно сменились три оккупационные администрации - Г. А. Бобринского, Ф. Ф. Трепова и Д. И. Дорошенко. Политика в национальном вопросе каждой из этих администраций отличалась своей спецификой. В статье автор уделяет особое внимание эволюции этой политики и отслеживает взаимоотношения российских властей с москвофилами и украинскими националистами. В работе дан краткий обзор политической ситуации в крае в довоенный период.
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Out of sight – out of mind? Information acquisition patterns in risky choice framing.Anton Kühberger &Michael Schulte-Mecklenbeck -2014 -Polish Psychological Bulletin 45 (1):21-28.detailsWe investigate whether risky choice framing, i.e., the preference of a sure over an equivalent risky option when choosing among gains, and the reverse when choosing among losses, depends on redundancy and density of information available in a task. Redundancy, the saliency of missing information, and density, the description of options in one or multiple chunks, was manipulated in a matrix setup presented in MouselabWeb. On the choice level we found a framing effect only in setups with non-redundant information. On (...) the process level outcomes attracted more acquisitions than probabilities, irrespective of redundancy. A dissociation between acquisition behavior and choice calls for a critical discussion of the limits of process-tracing measures for understanding and predicting choices in decision making tasks. (shrink)
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The role of the position effect in theory and simulation.Anton Kühberger,Christoph Kogler,H. U. G. Angelika &Evelyne Mösl -2006 -Mind and Language 21 (5):610–625.detailsWe contribute to the empirical debate on whether we understand and predict mental states by using simulation (simulation theory) or by relying on a folk psychological theory (theory theory). To decide between these two fundamental positions, it has been argued that failure to predict other people's choices would be challenging evidence against the simulation view. We test the specific claim that people prefer the rightmost position in choosing among equally valued objects, and whether or not this position bias can be (...) correctly predicted. A series of experiments shows that the bias appears only in a specific spatial arrangement and that it can be correctly predicted given adequate imaginative input. In concert with other recent findings on the correct prediction of choices these findings do actually strengthen, rather than challenge, the simulation account on the prediction of mental states. (shrink)
Why framing effects can be rational.Anton Kühberger -2022 -Behavioral and Brain Sciences 45:e231.detailsWhen communication is not disinterested, seemingly inconsistent preferences are predictable from language pragmatics and information non-equivalence. In addition, the classic risky choice framing effect found in the Asian disease task – risk-aversion with gains and risk-seeking with losses – applies to gambles, but tends to be overgeneralized to non-gambling situations.
Why use real and hypothetical payoffs?Anton Kühberger -2001 -Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24 (3):419-420.detailsDecision making can be studied using hypothetical payoffs because it is hypothetical to its very core. However, the core process can be influenced by contextual features. As there is no theory for these contextual features, a “do-it-both-ways” rule amounts to a waste of money. If we had such a theory, doing it both ways would be unnecessary.
Musicality in human evolution, archaeology and ethnography: Iain Morley: The prehistory of music: human evolution, archaeology, and the origins of musicality. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013.Anton Killin -2014 -Biology and Philosophy 29 (4):597-609.detailsThis essay reviews Iain Morley’s The Prehistory of Music, an up-to-date and authoritative overview of recent research on evolution and cognition of musicality from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. Given the diversity of the project explored, integration of evidence from multiple fields is particularly pressing, required for any novel evolutionary account to be persuasive, and for the project’s continued progress. Moreover, Morley convincingly demonstrates that there is much more to understanding musicality than is supposed by some theorists. I outline Morley’s review of (...) the archaeological and ethnographic literature, and then go on to critique his assessment of philosophical and evolutionary theories, offering some alternative perspectives that might better benefit his project. (shrink)
Moses Mendelssohn: Philosophie zwischen gemeinem Menschenverstand und unnützer Spekulation.Anton Hütter -1990 - Cuxhaven: Junghans.detailsEnthält Zusammenfassungen der einzelnen Beitr. in Engl.
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