Question:

Are biological structures the source of the organization and adaptations of activity or that activity is the driving force producing the evolving adaptation of the biological structures?

Answer 1:

Biological structures are one source of organization.¡¡It is the interaction between activity and the environment that also produce adaptations of activity.¡¡The interaction between activity and environment is structured by biological structure and organization.¡¡Such biological factors make adaptations possible and also limit them.

Answer 2:

An activity is the functioning of a structure and a structure is the organisation of the functioning of lower level (eg, lower biological or even chemical) structures. So the question of driving forces does not really arise: not only are they (as Michael observes) both involved, but they are simply two sides of the same thing.

On this basis, evolution occurs when the functioning of biological structures falls into contradiction for one reason or another, such as a conflict between a structure and a superior version of itself, when they are competing for a resource whose control somehow affects reproductive fitness.

Likewise for intelligence itself: intelligent activity is simply the functioning of lower level structures. Some of these structures may be biological, although the only examples I can think of are the sensorimotor reflexes out of which intelligence emerges, and which are, as far as I can see, completely superseded by intelligence itself once its own proper structure is in place. As with biological structures (and as with Pasteur's [?] dictum that all life comes from other life), the vast majority of intelligent activity is wholly intelligent, with no basis in biology.

For example, from the point of view of intelligence, the central nervous system is simply the implementation of intelligence, the mechanism through which its structure is embodied and its functioning is executed. So, although (natural) intelligence exists only in the form of a central nervous system, there is nothing about the CNS as such that explains or determines anything about intelligence, any more than there is a chemical formula for hunting or nest-building.

Answer 3:

one aspect of intelligence that seems to me completely neglected by the Piagetian literature is the fact that intelligence provides a basis for social structure that is quite independent of psychological factors and interpersonal interactions. Piaget's own sociology was always limited to social psychological factors such as values, whereas there are striking analogies between pre-operational cognition and hunter-gatherer societies,¡¡concrete operational and pre-modern social systems such as feudalism, and formal operation cognition and capitalism.

(This is the main topic of my History of Human Reason, also downloadable for free from our website. Just click on Publications and start the download. All comments extremely welcome.)

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(This article is from email discussions through owner-piaget-list@interchange.ubc.ca)