Flying the southern flag for philosophy

Victoria University’s Professor Kim Sterelny has won the 2004 Lakatos Award for his book Thought in a Hostile World: The Evolution of Human Cognition. The $10,000 prize, named in honour of Karl Popper protégé Imre Lakatos, recognises a book which makes a major contribution to the Philosophy of Science. Sterelny is the first southern-hemisphere philosopher to win the prestigious British-based award.  Thought in a Hostile World contrasts the evolutionary development of humans and chimps, which was very similar until an unknown factor (or more likely factors) caused the dramatic split evidenced today. “The intellectual centre of gravity may be in the US, but winning this award proves you can make a difference as an academic while living in Australasia,” said Sterelny in the Dominion Post.