| In this philosophy of science thesis I develop a conceptual framework for thinking about cognitive activities by drawing on the conceptual resources of evolutionary developmental biology, providing first steps toward an evolutionary developmental cognitive neuroscience. Focusing on ontological, epistemological, and explanatory dimensions, I develop a concept of cognitive homology grounded in sound theory and scientific practice. A cognitive homologue is the same cognitive character under every variety of form and function. Extending operational criteria from biology, I analyze evidential relationships between empirical data in cognitive science and cognitive homologies. The explanatory contribution is twofold. First, it succeeds in providing explanatory grounds for causal relationships among representational formats, and here I focus on pretense and the imagination in philosophy. Second, my account clarifies the relationship between evolution, development, and evolutionary history, pointing to promising contributions in the context of current philosophical theorizing on the evolution of the human mindreading (mentalization) system. |
