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Evolution of Human Jealousy A Just-So Story or a Just-So Criticism?

Lingnan University

To operationalize the methodological assessment of evolutionary psychology, three requirements are proposed that, if satisfied, would show that a hypothesis is not a just-so story: (1) theoretical entrenchment (i.e., that the hypothesis under consideration is a consequence of a more fundamental theory that is empirically well-confirmed across a very wide range of phenomena), (2) predictive success (i.e., that the hypothesis generates concrete predictions that make it testable and eventually to a certain extent corroborated), and (3) failure of rival explanations (i.e., that crucial and successful predictions attributed to the hypothesis in question cannot be derived from alternative hypotheses). The author argues that the hypothesis about evolutionary sex differences in human jealousy satisfies all three requirements.

Key Words: evolutionary psychology • adaptationism • philosophy of science • testability

Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 33, No. 4, 427-443 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0048393103257964


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