TY  - JOUR
A1  - Seitz, Fabian
T1  - Argumentation evolved: but how? Coevolution of coordinated group behavior and reasoning
T2  - Argumentation
N2  - Rational agency is of central interest to philosophy, with evolutionary accounts of the cognitive underpinnings of rational agency being much debated. Yet one building block—our ability to argue—is less studied, except Mercier and Sperber’s argumentative theory (Mercier and Sperber in Behav Brain Sci 34(02):57–74, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x10000968 [Titel anhand dieser DOI in Citavi-Projekt übernehmen] , 2011, in The enigma of reason. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2017). I discuss their account and argue that it faces a lacuna: It cannot explain the origin of argumentation as a series of small steps that reveal how hominins with baseline abilities of the trait in question could turn into full-blown owners of it. This paper then provides a first sketch of the desired evolutionary trajectory. I argue that reasoning coevolves with the ability to coordinate behavior. After that, I establish a model based on niche construction theory. This model yields a story with following claims. First, argumentation came into being during the Oldowan period as a tool for justifying information ‘out of sight’. Second, argumentation enabled hominins to solve collective action problems with collaborators out of sight, which stabilized argumentative practices eventually. Archeological findings are discussed to substantiate both claims. I conclude with outlining changes resultant from my model for the concept of rational agency.
KW  - Cognitive evolution
KW  - Rational agency
KW  - Argumentative theory of reasoning
KW  - Niche construction
KW  - Cognitive archeology
Y1  - 2020
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/63651
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-636512
SN  - 1572-8374
N1  - Open Access funding provided by Projekt DEAL.
VL  - 34.2020
IS  - 2
SP  - 237
EP  - 260
PB  - Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
CY  - Dordrecht [u.a.]
ER  -