The Philosophy of Biology

Erscheinungsjahr 1998
ISBN: 978-0-19-875212-7
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 782 Seiten, Format (B × H): 135 mm x 217 mm, Gewicht: 896 g

The aim of this series is to bring together important recent writings in major areas of philosophical inquiry, selected from a variety of sources, mostly periodicals, which may not be conveniently available to the university student or the general reader. The editors of each volume contribute an introductory essay on the items chosen and on the questions with which they deal. A selective bibliography is appended as a guide to further reading.

The philosophy of biology today is one of the most exciting areas in philosophical inquiry. Drawing on work of the past decade, this volume brings together articles from the philosophy, history, and sociology of science, as well as many branches of the biological sciences, to consider issues including the nature of evolutionary theory, biology and ethics, the challenge from religion, and the social implications of biology today (in particular the Human Genome Project).

The 36 articles in this collection are divided into 10 parts, each with an introduction by the editors. Spanning issues from epistemology across to ethics, the volume delves into the latest theoretical controversies as well as burning questions of contemporary social importance. Throughout the volume an attempt is made to offer positions from different perspectives, so that the reader will be challenged as well as informed.

The Philosophy of Biology will be essential and fascinating reading for students of philosophy and biology as well as the general reader with an interest in the natural sciences and evolution.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hull, David L.

Ruse, Michael

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Wissenschaften: Theorie, Epistemologie, Methodik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Zeit: Philosophische, Psychologische, Soziale Aspekte
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- Part I: Adaptation

- Introduction to Part I

- 1: Mary Jane West-Eberhard: Adaptation: Current Usages

- 2: Richard Dawkins: Universal Darwinism

- 3: D. C. Dennett: The Leibnizian Paradigm

- 4: Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth S. Vrba:. Exaptation - A Missing Term in the Science of Form

- 5: Elliott Sober: Six Sayings About Adaptationism

- Part II: Development

- Introduction to Part II

- 6: Ron Amundson: Two Concepts of Constraint: Adaptationism and the Challenge from Developmental Biology

- 7: P. E. Griffiths and R. D. Gray: Developmental Systems and Evolutionary Explanation

- Part III: Units of Selection

- 8: Kim Sterelny and Philip Kitcher: The Return of the Gene

- 9: Robert N. Brandon: The Levels of Selection: A Hierarchy of Interactors

- 10: Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson: A Critical Review of Philosophical Work on the Units of Selection Problem

- Part IV: Function

- Introduction to Part IV

- 11: Ron Amundson: Function Without Purpose: The Uses of Causal Role Function in Evolutionary Biology

- 12: Philip Kitcher: Function and Design

- 13: Peter Godfrey-Smith: Functions: Consensus Without Unity

- Part V: Species

- Introduction to Part V

- 14: Brent D. Mishler and Robert N. Brandon: Individuality, Pluralism, and the Phylogenetic Species Concept

- 15: Kevin de Queiroz and Michael J. Donoghue: Phylogenetic Systematics and the Species Problem

- 16: Marc Ereshefsky: Eliminative Pluralism

- Part VI: Human Nature

- Introduction to Part VI

- 17: John Maynard Smith: Science and Myth

- 18: David L. Hull: On Human Nature

- 19: Evelyn Fox Keller: Gender and Science: Origin, History, and Politics

- 20: Susan Oyama: Essentialism, Women, and War: Protesting Too Much, Protesting Too Little

- 21: Edward Stein: Essentialism and Constructionism about Sexual Orientation

- Part VII: Altruism

- Introduction to Part VII

- 22: Alexander Rosenberg: Altruism: Theoretical Contexts

- 23: Elliott Sober: What Is Evolutionary Altruism?

- 24: David Sloan Wilson: On the Relationship Between Evolutionary and Psychological Definitions of Altruism and Selfishness

- Part VIII: Human Genome Project

- Introduction to Part VIII

- 25: Marga Vicedo: The Human Genome Project: Towards an Analysis of the Empirical, Ethical, and Conceptual Issues Involved

- 26: Philip Kitcher: Who's Afraid of the Human Genome Project?

- 27: Diane B. Paul: Is Human Genetics Disguised Eugenics?

- 28: Elisabeth A. Lloyd: Normality and Variation: The Human Genome Project and the Ideal Human Type

- 29: Alexander Rosenberg: The Human Genome Project: Research Tactics and Economic Strategies

- Part IX: Progress

- Introduction to Part IX

- 30: Robert J. Richards: The Moral Foundations of the Idea of Evolutionary Progress: Darwin, Spencer, and the Neo-Darwinians

- 31: Michael Ruse: Evolution and Progress

- 32: Daniel W. McShea: Complexity and Evolution: What Everybody Knows

- 33: Stephen Jay Gould: On Replacing the Idea of Progress with an Operational Notion of Directionality

- Part X: Creationism

- Introduction to Part X

- 34: Alvin Plantinga: When Faith and Reason Clash: Evolution and the Bible

- 35: Ernan McMullin: Evolution and Special Creation

- 36: Alvin Plantinga: Reply to McMullin

- Notes on the Contributors

- Further Reading

- Index

Über Autor(innen)

David L. Hull is Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University. His publications include Darwin and His Critics (1983), The Metaphysics of Evolution (1989), and Science as a Process: An Evolutionary Account of the Social and Conceptual Development of Science (1991).

Michael Ruse is Professor of Philosophy and Zoology at the University of Guelph. He is founder and editor of the journal Biology and Philosophy and on the editorial board of a number of scientific journals. His publications include The Philosophy of Biology (1989), The Darwinian Paradigm (1989), Evolution Naturalism (1994), and Monad to Man: The Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology (1996).