Interpreting Minds: The Evolution of a Practice

Unlike most current researchers in philosophy and psychology, who view interpretationas a way to understand the minds and behavior of others, Radu J. Bogdan sets out to establish a newevolutionary and practical view of interpretation. According to Bogdan, the ability to interpretothers' mental states has evolved under communal, political, and epistemic pressures to enable us tocope with the impact of other organisms on our own goals in the competition to survive.Interpretation evolved among primates by natural and then cultural selection. As an adaptation, itis a competence in the form of a battery of practical skills that serve the interpreter's interestsin social interactions. Evolutionary theory does not just deepen our understanding ofinterpretation; without it, we cannot understand what interpretation is and how it does its job.Interpreting Minds raises many thought-provoking issues for philosophers of mind and culture;evolutionary, developmental, and social psychologists; ethologists; cognitive and culturalanthropologists; evolutionary biologists; and others interested in cognitive development.