Just to be clear, I think that analytic philosophers often should have been more humble when they barged in and started telling scientist how confused they were. Fodor’s critique of NS would again be my go-to example of that.
Dennett states this point in typically strong terms in his review of Fodor’s argument:
I cannot forebear noting, on a rather more serious note, that such ostentatiously unresearched ridicule as Fodor heaps on Darwinians here is both very rude and very risky to one’s reputation. (Remember Mary Midgley’s notoriously ignorant and arrogant review of The Selfish Gene? Fodor is vying to supplant her as World Champion in the Philosophers’ Self- inflicted Wound Competition.) Before other philosophers countenance it they might want to bear in mind that the reaction of most biologists to this sort of performance is apt to be–at best: “Well, we needn’t bother paying any attention to him. He’s just one of those philosophers playing games with words.” It may be fun, but it contributes to the disrespect that many non- philosophers have for our so-called discipline.
Just to be clear, I think that analytic philosophers often should have been more humble when they barged in and started telling scientist how confused they were. Fodor’s critique of NS would again be my go-to example of that.
Dennett states this point in typically strong terms in his review of Fodor’s argument: