Nathalie Gontier studied Philosophy at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels, Belgium) and Comparative science of culture (cultural anthropology) at the University of Ghent (Belgium). Her PhD in Philosophy (2008) was on the origin of language from within an evolutionary epistemological framework. She co-edited (with J. P. Van Bendegem and D. Aerts) "Evolutionary Epistemology, Language and Culture: A Non-Adaptationist Systems Theoretical Approach" (Springer, 2006).