Abstract

This article explores the role that the Darwinian social sciences can play in sociology. More specifically, the question is asked whether evolutionary psychology can be useful for the analytical approach to sociology. Evolutionary psychologists suppose that the human mind is a composition of evolved psychic mechanisms. Analytical sociology looks for the social mechanisms which are causing social processes. It is suggested that evolutionary psychology can be useful in the search for social mechanisms which are describing how the social structure influences individual behavior. However, the rational way of explanation is proposed as a regulative idea. Thus, the working hypothesis is that a certain behavior can be explained by an actor's general problem solving capacity. The burden of proof is on the one who prefers an explanation based on specialized psychic mechanisms. The consequences of this suggestion are illustrated by research into sex differences by evolutionary psychologist David Buss.

How to Cite:

Rommel, W., (2000) “Evolutiepsychologie: een verrijking voor de analytische sociologie?”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 21(2), 109–130. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86497