ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on what the charge of scientific imperialism amounts to and whether the charge is appropriate in the case of the relation between evolutionary biology and the social and behavioral sciences. It introduces two very different examples of this relationship: evolutionary psychology and evolutionary linguistics. The chapter provides a discussion on scientific imperialism and the way in which the concept has been proposed, developed, and defended. It also focuses on John Dupre's account of scientific imperialism, as this account was developed to critically assess evolutionary psychology. The chapter proposes an empirically based approach to scientific change that can help in identifying the strengths and limitations of appeals to scientific imperialism. It draws on an analogy between the ways in which empirical approaches to scientific change helped refine the notion of scientific revolutions and the ways in which related empirical approaches may help refine our notion of scientific imperialism.
