ABSTRACT
I have expressed the view elsewhere (Tolman, 1982) that Comparative Psychology’s health would be considerably improved if it took its evolutionist foundations more seriously. In its present condition, the discipline displays a puzzling historical irony. Its roots are firmly embedded in evolutionist movement of the mid 19th century—indeed Charles Darwin himself can be claimed as a legitimate parent—yet it has harbored, defended, propogated, succumbed to some of the most antievolutionist thinking of all the biological disciplines. My intention here is to investigate how the founders of our discipline conceived of evolution, in the hope of illuminating our current problems.
