The Philosophy Of Evolutionary Theory

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The Philosophy Of Evolutionary Theory

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Author : Elliott Sober
language : en
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Release Date : 2024-02-08

The Philosophy Of Evolutionary Theory written by Elliott Sober and has been published by Cambridge University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2024-02-08 with Science categories.

Natural selection, mutation, and adaptation are well-known and central topics in Darwin's theory of evolution and in the 20th - and 21st -century theories which grew out of it, but many other important topics are used in evolutionary biology that raise interesting philosophical questions. In this book, Elliott Sober analyses a much larger range of topics, including fitness, altruism, common ancestry, chance, taxonomy, phylogenetic inference, operationalism, reductionism, conventionalism, null hypotheses and default reasoning, instrumentalism versus realism, hypothetico-deductivism, essentialism, falsifiability, the principle of parsimony, the principle of the common cause, causality, determinism versus indeterminism, sensitivity to initial conditions, and the knowability of the past. Sober's clear philosophical analyses of these key concepts, arguments, and methods of inference will be valuable for all readers who want to understand evolutionary biology in both its Darwinian and its contemporary forms.

Philosophy Of Evolutionary Biology

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Author : Stefan Linquist
language : en
Publisher: Routledge
Release Date : 2017-03-02

Philosophy Of Evolutionary Biology written by Stefan Linquist and has been published by Routledge this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2017-03-02 with Science categories.

The impact of evolutionary theory on the philosophy of science has been no less profound than its impact on the science of biology itself. Advances in this theory provide a rich set of examples for thinking about the nature of scientific explanation and the structure of science. Many of the developments in our understanding of evolution resulted from contributions by both philosophers and biologists engaging over theoretical questions of mutual interest. This volume traces some of the most influential exchanges in this field over the last few decades. Focal topics include the nature of biological functions, adaptationism as an explanatory and methodological doctrine, the levels of selection debate, the concepts of fitness and drift, and the relationship of evolutionary to developmental biology.

Philosophy Of Biology

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Author : Elliott Sober
language : en
Publisher: Routledge
Release Date : 2018-03-05

Philosophy Of Biology written by Elliott Sober and has been published by Routledge this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2018-03-05 with Philosophy categories.

Perhaps because of it implications for our understanding of human nature, recent philosophy of biology has seen what might be the most dramatic work in the philosophies of the ?special? sciences. This drama has centered on evolutionary theory, and in the second edition of this textbook, Elliott Sober introduces the reader to the most important issues of these developments. With a rare combination of technical sophistication and clarity of expression, Sober engages both the higher level of theory and the direct implications for such controversial issues as creationism, teleology, nature versus nurture, and sociobiology. Above all, the reader will gain from this book a firm grasp of the structure of evolutionary theory, the evidence for it, and the scope of its explanatory significance.

The Philosophy Of Social Evolution

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Author : Jonathan Birch
language : en
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date : 2017-10-13

The Philosophy Of Social Evolution written by Jonathan Birch and has been published by Oxford University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2017-10-13 with Philosophy categories.

From mitochondria to meerkats, the natural world is full of spectacular examples of social behaviour. In the early 1960s Bill Hamilton changed the way we think about how such behaviour evolves. He introduced three key innovations - now known as Hamilton's rule, kin selection, and inclusive fitness - which have been enormously influential, but which remain the subject of fierce controversy. Hamilton's pioneering work kick-started a research program now known as social evolution theory. This is a book about the philosophical foundations and future prospects of that program. Part I, "Foundations", is a careful exposition and defence of Hamilton's ideas, with a few modifications along the way. In Part II, "Extensions", Jonathan Birch shows how these ideas can be applied to phenomena including cooperation in micro-organisms, cooperation among the cells of a multicellular organism, and culturally evolved cooperation in the earliest human societies. Birch argues that real progress can be made in understanding microbial evolution, evolutionary transitions, and human evolution by viewing them through the lens of social evolution theory, provided the theory is interpreted with care and adapted where necessary. The Philosophy of Social Evolution places social evolution theory on a firm philosophical footing and sets out exciting new directions for further work.

Evolution 2 0

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Author : Martin Brinkworth
language : en
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Release Date : 2011-10-07

Evolution 2 0 written by Martin Brinkworth and has been published by Springer Science & Business Media this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2011-10-07 with Philosophy categories.

These essays by leading philosophers and scientists focus on recent ideas at the forefront of modern Darwinism, showcasing and exploring the challenges they raise as well as open problems. This interdisciplinary volume is unique in that it addresses the key notions of evolutionary theory in approaches to the mind, in the philosophy of biology, in the social sciences and humanities; furthermore it considers recent challenges to, and extensions of, Neo-Darwinism. The essays demonstrate that Darwinism is an evolving paradigm, with a sphere of influence far greater than even Darwin is likely to have imagined when he published ‘On the Origin of Species’ in 1859.

The Nature Of Selection

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Author : Elliott Sober
language : en
Publisher: MIT Press (MA)
Release Date : 1985

The Nature Of Selection written by Elliott Sober and has been published by MIT Press (MA) this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1985 with Philosophy categories.

The Nature of Selection provides a straightforward and self-contained introduction to philosophical and biological problems in evolutionary theory. It presents a powerful analysis of the evolutionary concepts of natural selection, fitness, and adaptation and clarifies controversial issues concerning altruism, group selection, and the idea that organisms are survival machines built for the good of the genes that inhabit them. Elliott Sober is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the editor of Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Biology (Bradford Books 1984). A Bradford Book.

Evolution As Natural History

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Author : Wim J. van der Steen
language : en
Publisher: Praeger
Release Date : 2000-06-30

Evolution As Natural History written by Wim J. van der Steen and has been published by Praeger this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2000-06-30 with Science categories.

Wim van der Steen charts conceptual foundations of evolutionary biology and, on the basis of this, he evaluates applications of evolutionary theory outside biology. Philosophical analysis shows that key notions of the theory such as fitness, adaptation, selection, and optimality are empty place-holder concepts that call for context-dependent specifications of meaning. For example, as he points out, the notion of optimality is empty without a specification of constraints. Hence, the controversial thesis that animals perform optimal behaviors as a result of natural selection is meaningless rather than true or false. Analysis shows that many other controversies in evolutionary biology are spurious. Thus, the thesis of genic selectionism, which puts genes at center stage in evolutionary theory, is best reconstructed as an arbitrary conceptualization without substance. Disagreements over the thesis are futile. They reflect preferences for different conceptualizations which are ultimately equivalent. As concepts are properly specified, van der Steen asserts evolutionary theory turns out to be a body of interesting natural history at a low level of generality. General laws of evolution do not exist. Hence, evolutionary approaches do not allow sweeping claims about human nature. Unfortunately, in disciplines outside biology such claims are often defended with evolutionary approaches. Evolutionary theory also cannot serve as a foundation for normative views in ethics or epistemology. This is an important and controversial work for scholars and advanced researchers in biology and the philosophy of biology.

From A Biological Point Of View

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Author : Elliott Sober
language : en
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Release Date : 1994-09-30

From A Biological Point Of View written by Elliott Sober and has been published by Cambridge University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1994-09-30 with Philosophy categories.

Elliott Sober is one of the leading philosophers of science and is a former winner of the Lakatos Prize, the major award in the field. This new collection of essays will appeal to a readership that extends well beyond the frontiers of the philosophy of science. Sober shows how ideas in evolutionary biology bear in significant ways on traditional problems in philosophy of mind and language, epistemology, and metaphysics. Amongst the topics addressed are psychological egoism, solipsism, and the interpretation of belief and utterance, empiricism, Ockham's razor, causality, essentialism, and scientific laws. The collection will prove invaluable to a wide range of philosophers, primarily those working in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of mind, and epistemology.

Handbook Of Paleoanthropology

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Author : Winfried Henke
language : en
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Release Date : 2007-05-10

Handbook Of Paleoanthropology written by Winfried Henke and has been published by Springer Science & Business Media this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2007-05-10 with Science categories.

This 3-volume handbook brings together contributions by the world ́s leading specialists that reflect the broad spectrum of modern palaeoanthropology, thus presenting an indispensable resource for professionals and students alike. Vol. 1 reviews principles, methods, and approaches, recounting recent advances and state-of-the-art knowledge in phylogenetic analysis, palaeoecology and evolutionary theory and philosophy. Vol. 2 examines primate origins, evolution, behaviour, and adaptive variety, emphasizing integration of fossil data with contemporary knowledge of the behaviour and ecology of living primates in natural environments. Vol. 3 deals with fossil and molecular evidence for the evolution of Homo sapiens and its fossil relatives.

Philosophy Of Biology

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Author : Peter Godfrey-Smith
language : en
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Release Date : 2016-09-06

Philosophy Of Biology written by Peter Godfrey-Smith and has been published by Princeton University Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2016-09-06 with Philosophy categories.

An essential introduction to the philosophy of biology This is a concise, comprehensive, and accessible introduction to the philosophy of biology written by a leading authority on the subject. Geared to philosophers, biologists, and students of both, the book provides sophisticated and innovative coverage of the central topics and many of the latest developments in the field. Emphasizing connections between biological theories and other areas of philosophy, and carefully explaining both philosophical and biological terms, Peter Godfrey-Smith discusses the relation between philosophy and science; examines the role of laws, mechanistic explanation, and idealized models in biological theories; describes evolution by natural selection; and assesses attempts to extend Darwin's mechanism to explain changes in ideas, culture, and other phenomena. Further topics include functions and teleology, individuality and organisms, species, the tree of life, and human nature. The book closes with detailed, cutting-edge treatments of the evolution of cooperation, of information in biology, and of the role of communication in living systems at all scales. Authoritative and up-to-date, this is an essential guide for anyone interested in the important philosophical issues raised by the biological sciences.