AEE

I am developing a new, evolution-based, cosmology that undoes of the classic ontology-epistemology divide. Ontology is classically concerned with what exists, and epistemology with how we come to know what exists. Neither ontology nor epistemology however take into account that existence and how we know about it are subjects of evolution. Rather than seek eternal "truths", or identify "essential" properties of "entities" in "the world", we need to come to terms with how, through evolution, existence changes incessantly. 

I call this framework Applied Evolutionary Epistemology or AEE.  AEE is a methodology that enables the identification, analysis, and evaluation of units, levels, and mechanisms of evolution. Evolving units, levels, and mechanisms, in turn, bring forth spatiotemporal  ontologies which I call evolving biorealities, i.e. hierarchically-structured, life-based and lived actualities that are entangled with space and time. 

AEE thus defines evolution in a selection-neutral way, as the phenomenon whereby units evolve at levels of ontological hierarchies by mechanisms and processes. This definition provides a research methodology, namely, studying evolution implies identifying the units that evolve, the levels where they evolve, and the mechanisms and processes whereby they evolve. Identified units, levels, and mechanisms need to be analysed for how they underlie hierarchical structures that underlie bioreality formation. 

Expanding on existing hierarchy theories, I identify four kinds of hierarchies: aggregational, linear, nested, and interactional hierarchies. 

Hierarchy theories moreover provide a means to study evolutionary causation. Here too I expand upon existing research by in addition to the well-studied forms of upward and downward causation, examining what I identify as reticulate and self-causation. 

My approach builds upon evolutionary epistemology, which is a philosophical tradition that examines how natural selection enables the evolution of knowledge. Answers are sought by defining units and levels of selection. My approach is called "applied" evolutionary epistemology because it generalizes research on units, levels, and mechanisms toward non-Darwinian mechanisms and processes of evolution. 

Biorealities display a multitude of diverging and converging patterns in their mode and tempo of evolution. I'm particularly interested in the patterns of reticulation and punctuated equilibria.

Hierarchies, Networks, and Causality: The Applied Evolutionary Epistemological Approach. (2021). Journal for General Philosophy of Science 52 (2): 313 - 334. 

On how Epistemology and Ontology Converge through Evolution: The Applied Evolutionary Epistemological Approach. (2018.) In: Wuppuluri S., Doria F. (eds) The Map and the Territory, Foreword by Sir Roger Penrose and Afterword by Dagfinn Føllesdal, pp. 533-569. The Frontiers collection. Springer, Cham.

Acquiring knowledge on species-specific biorealities: The applied evolutionary epistemological approach. (2017). With Michael Bradie. In: Joyce, R. (ed) The Routledge Handbook of Evolution and Philosophy, Routledge. 

Applied Evolutionary Epistemology: A new methodology to enhance interdisciplinary research between the human and natural sciences. (2012). Kairos, Journal of Philosophy and Science 4: 7-49.

Evolutionary epistemology as a scientific method: a new look upon the units and levels of evolution debate. (2010). Theory in Biosciences 129 (2-3): 167-182.

What are the units of language evolution? (2018). Topoi, 37(2), 235-253

What are the levels and mechanisms/processes of language evolution? (2017). Language Sciences 63: 12-43. 

Pointing and the Evolution of Language: An Applied Evolutionary Epistemological Approach. (2013). Humana Mente, Journal of Philosophical Studies 24: 1-26.

Selectionist Approaches in Evolutionary Linguistics: An Epistemological Analysis. (2012). International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 26 (1): 67–95. 

Biosemiotics and Applied Evolutionary Epistemology: A Comparison. (2021). With Marta Facoetti. In: Pagni E., Theisen Simanke R. (eds) Biosemiotics and Evolution. Interdisciplinary Evolution Research, vol 6. Springer, Cham.