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MAKING EVOLUTION RELEVANT in PSYCHIATRY: EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AS a FOUNDATION for PSYCHIATRY by Christopher Chalme

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MAKING EVOLUTION RELEVANT in PSYCHIATRY: EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AS a FOUNDATION for PSYCHIATRY by Christopher Chalme MAKING EVOLUTION RELEVANT IN PSYCHIATRY: EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AS A FOUNDATION FOR PSYCHIATRY by Christopher Chalmers Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia August 2011 © Copyright by Christopher Chalmers, 2011 DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY The undersigned hereby certify that they have read and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for acceptance a thesis entitled “MAKING EVOLUTION RELEVANT IN PSYCHIATRY: EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AS A FOUNDATION FOR PSYCHIATRY” by Christopher Chalmers in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Dated: August 22, 2011 Supervisor: _________________________________ Readers: _________________________________ _________________________________ ii DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DATE: August 22, 2011 AUTHOR: Christopher Chalmers TITLE: MAKING EVOLUTION RELEVANT IN PSYCHIATRY: EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AS A FOUNDATION FOR PSYCHIATRY DEPARTMENT OR SCHOOL: Department of Philosophy DEGREE: MA CONVOCATION: October YEAR: 2011 Permission is herewith granted to Dalhousie University to circulate and to have copied for non-commercial purposes, at its discretion, the above title upon the request of individuals or institutions. I understand that my thesis will be electronically available to the public. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author’s written permission. The author attests that permission has been obtained for the use of any copyrighted material appearing in the thesis (other than the brief excerpts requiring only proper acknowledgement in scholarly writing), and that all such use is clearly acknowledged. _______________________________ Signature of Author iii DEDICATIONS To my parents Jennifer and Michael Chalmers, for their love and support in all that I do. To my Sister Amanda Chalmers, my counselor and best friend. To my Grandmother Noreen, for believing in me always. To the memory of my Aunt Gladys who encouraged my desire to learn from the very beginning. Finally I wish to dedicate this thesis to all who suffer from mental illness of any kind. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..............................................................................viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED................................................ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..............................................................x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................... 1 1.1 Evolutionary Medicine ..................................................... 1 1.2 Evolutionary Theory and Human Psychology................... 1 1.3 Overview of the Thesis.................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2: EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHIATRY ............................... 7 2.1 Introduction.................................................................... 7 2.2 Dominic Murphy and Three Types of Evolutionary Explanations in Psychiatry .................................................... 8 2.3 Categorizing Evolutionary Explanations in Psychiatry using Murphy’s Taxonomy .................................................. 16 2.4 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Murphy’s Taxonomy ........................................................................... 19 2.5 Narrow Evolutionary Psychology................................... 27 2.6 NEP and Evolutionary Psychiatry .................................. 32 2.7 Murphy’s Taxonomy and Complete Causal Explanations ....................................................................... 39 2.8 Conclusion .................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 3: DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY ......................................................................... 52 3.1 Introduction.................................................................. 52 3.2 A Brief History of Evolutionary Developmental Biology................................................................................ 52 3.4 An Evo-devo alternative to NEP .................................... 68 3.4.1 The Principles of NEP.............................................68 3.4.2 Developmental Modularity......................................71 3.4.3 Homology ............................................................ 74 v 3.4.4 The Environment as Co-constructor.........................78 3.4.5 Plasticity.............................................................. 81 3.4.6 Variation.............................................................. 84 3.4.7 Evolutionary Psychology and Function .....................88 3.5 The Future of Evolutionary Psychology ......................... 90 3.5.1 NEP and Developmental Biology .............................91 3.5.2 Methodology of Scientific Research Programs ...........93 3.5.3 Evolutionary Psychology and the MSRP....................95 3.6 Conclusion .................................................................... 98 CHAPTER 4: DEP AND EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHIATRY ............ 100 4.1 Introduction................................................................ 100 4.2 Function in Psychiatry................................................. 101 4.2.1 Psychiatry and Traits........................................... 101 4.2.2 Expressing dysfunctional traits as SE functions ....... 103 4.2.3 The concept of a mental disorder .......................... 110 4.3 Psychiatry and Health ................................................. 116 4.3.1 Health and Disease ............................................. 116 4.3.2 CR Function and Dysfunction for Mental Disorders... 127 4.3.3 Motivations and Goals in Psychiatry....................... 133 4.3.4 Natural Kinds in Psychiatry .................................. 135 4.4 DEP as a Foundation for Evolutionary Psychiatry ........ 139 4.4.1 Psychiatric Goals and CR Function......................... 139 4.4.2 DEP and OCD ..................................................... 143 4.4.3 Objections ......................................................... 148 4.5 Conclusion .................................................................. 161 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION .................................................... 163 5.1 Introduction................................................................ 163 5.2 A New Evolutionary Psychiatry ................................... 163 5.2.1 Prevention ......................................................... 164 5.3.2 Accommodation and Responsibility........................ 165 5.2.3 Treatment.......................................................... 168 vi 5.3 Summary, Conclusions and Future Work..................... 170 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................... 174 vii ABSTRACT Evolution has tended to hold minimal significance for psychiatry making evolutionary psychiatry a niche sub discipline. This despite many calls for integrating evolution into psychiatry. One of the main impediments to this integration is that the foundation of much evolutionary psychiatry relies heavily upon a specific narrow conception of evolutionary psychology that is at times incompatible with modern evolutionary biology. Evolutionary psychiatry often produces impoverished evolutionary explanations for mental disorders as a result of relying on this impoverished foundation. I argue that a more relevant evolutionary psychiatry must reflect modern evolutionary biology and in particular the incorporation of developmental biology into evolutionary theory and study. Evolutionary developmental biology provides the adequate scientific foundation that is required for evolutionary psychiatry to provide robust evolutionary explanations and make evolution truly relevant to psychiatry. A better foundation will allow evolutionary psychiatry to expand beyond its current role as a niche sub discipline. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED NEP Narrow Evolutionary Psychology Evo-Devo Evolutionary Developmental Biology DEP Developmental Evolutionary Psychology DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders SE Selected Effect CR Causal Role ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I wish to thank my wonderful committee. I am very appreciative of my third reader Gordon McOuat for his willingness to work under a tight schedule and for the wealth of engaging comments he provided which will keep me thinking beyond the completion of this thesis. A great deal of thanks goes to my second reader Kirstin Borgerson for her extensive discussions which helped in sorting out issues with the thesis but also helped me to grow as a philosopher. Most of all my heartfelt thanks go out to my supervisor Letitia Meynell for all the work she has put in to help me complete this thesis. Her unending patience and genuine concern for me and my project will not be forgotten and is greatly appreciated. I have learned so much from her about philosophy and writing and I have immensely enjoyed our many discussions. I also wish to acknowledge all of my fellow classmates, colleagues and professors who have over the years helped with my development as a philosopher and a person. Finally, thank you to my friends and family who have supported and accommodated me while I have been writing this thesis, particularly my immediate family Jennifer, Michael and Amanda Chalmers. x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Evolutionary Medicine Since the publication of On the Origin of Species the science and practice of
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