Thagard / Woods / Matthen Philosophy of Biology

1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-0-08-047124-2
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 638 Seiten

Philosophy of Biology is a rapidly expanding field. It is concerned with explanatory concepts in evolution, genetics, and ecology. This collection of 25 essays by leading researchers provides an overview of the state of the field. These essays are wholly new; none of them could have been written even ten years ago. They demonstrate how philosophical analysis has been able to contribute to sometimes contested areas of scientific theory making.
-Written by internationally acknowledged leaders in the field
- Entries make original contributions as well as summarizing state of the art discoveries in the field
- Easy to read and understand

Autoren/Hrsg.

Thagard, Paul

Woods, John

Matthen, Mohan

Stephens, Christopher

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Front Cover;1
2;Philosophy of Biology;4
3;Copyright Page;5
4;Table of Contents;8
5;General Preface;6
6;Preface;12
7;List of Contributors;16
8;Part I Biography;20
8.1;Charles Darwin;22
8.1.1;Darwin the Geologist;23
8.1.2;Darwin Becomes an Evolutionist;26
8.1.3;Natural Selection;29
8.1.4;The “Origin of Species”;32
8.1.5;The Consilience;37
8.1.6;After the “Origin”;40
8.1.7;Philosophical Issues;43
8.1.8;The Darwinian Revolution;49
8.1.9;Bibliography;54
8.2;Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher;58
8.2.1;1 Early Life and Education;58
8.2.2;2 At Rothamsted: A Period of Intense Activity;59
8.2.3;3 At University College, London;67
8.2.4;4 At Life’s Close;68
8.2.5;Bibliography;68
8.3;Haldane and the Emergence of Modern Evolutionary Theory;70
8.3.1;1 Introduction;70
8.3.2;2 Historical Background;71
8.3.3;3 Haldane’s “Mathematical Theory”;76
8.3.4;4 The Causes of Evolution;85
8.3.5;5 The Aftermath;90
8.3.6;6 Historical Reconstructions;92
8.3.7;Acknowledgments;103
8.3.8;Bibliography;103
8.4;Sewall Wright;108
8.4.1;1 A Biography in Brief;108
8.4.2;2 Inbreeding;109
8.4.3;3 Statistics and Path Analysis;111
8.4.4;4 Physiological Genetics;112
8.4.5;5 Population Genetics;113
8.4.6;6 The Shifting Balance Theory;115
8.4.7;7 Philosophy;117
8.4.8;8 Wright, The Man;118
8.4.9;Bibliography;119
8.5;Motoo Kimura;122
8.5.1;1 A Brief Biography;122
8.5.2;2 Population Genetics Theory;125
8.5.3;3 The Neutral Theory;126
8.5.4;4 Kimura The Man;127
8.5.5;Bibliography;128
9;Part II Evolution;130
9.1;Natural Selection;132
9.1.1;Fitness;133
9.1.2;What Does Natural Selection Explain?;135
9.1.3;Adaptationism;137
9.1.4;Forces and Causes;144
9.1.5;Bibliography;146
9.2;Neutralism;150
9.2.1;1 The Neutral Theory: Some Historical Background;150
9.2.2;2 Reception of the Theory;153
9.2.3;3 Kimura’s Arguments for Neutral Evolution;154
9.2.4;4 Tests of the Neutral Theory;155
9.2.5;5 Neutralism & Adaptive Evolution: The Molecular and the Phenotypic Level;156
9.2.6;6 What is Drift in the Context of the Neutral Theory?;159
9.2.7;Bibliography;160
9.3;Levels of Selection;162
9.3.1;1 Introduction;162
9.3.2;2 From Organisms to Genes and Groups;162
9.3.3;3 Genes and Organisms: Replicators, Interactors, and Other “Units”;164
9.3.4;4 Group Selection and Individual Selection;166
9.3.5;5 The Problem of Altruism and the Levels of Selection;168
9.3.6;6 Pluralism and Realism;171
9.3.7;7 Groups as Contexts, Groups as Superorganisms;174
9.3.8;8 Transitions in Evolutionary History;176
9.3.9;Bibliography;178
9.4;What is Evolvability?;184
9.4.1;1 The Metazoa and the Volvocaceans: Two Contrasting Fates;184
9.4.2;2 Limits on Volvocacean Disparity;185
9.4.3;3 Fitness: A Model for Evolvability?;187
9.4.4;4 Evolvability, Individuals and Environments;190
9.4.5;Bibliography;198
9.5;Development: Three Grades of Ontogenetic Involvement;200
9.5.1;1 Introduction;200
9.5.2;2 The Fragmentation of Evolution;201
9.5.3;3 Sub-Organismal Biology;204
9.5.4;4 Three Grades of Ontogenetic Involvement;206
9.5.5;5 Conclusion: Going Through the Grades;217
9.5.6;Bibliography;218
9.6;Evolution and Normativity;222
9.6.1;1 General Introduction;222
9.6.2;2 The Shadow of Darwin;224
9.6.3;3 Final Thoughts;235
9.6.4;Bibliography;236
9.7;Evolutionary Ethics;240
9.7.1;1 Introduction;240
9.7.2;2 Background Assumptions;244
9.7.3;3 The Evolution of Altruism;246
9.7.4;4 Reproductive Strategies and the Two Norms Theory;248
9.7.5;5 Reproductive Strategies and Sex Roles;251
9.7.6;6 Morality and the Marital Compromise;254
9.7.7;7 Enhancement Norms and Control Norms;256
9.7.8;8 The Open Question Argument;258
9.7.9;Bibliography;265
10;Part III Genetics;268
10.1;Genetic Analysis;270
10.1.1;1 Introduction;270
10.1.2;2 From Factors to Genes: Mendel to Johannsen;272
10.1.3;3 The Chromosomal Theory of Heredity;279
10.1.4;4 Genetic Linkage as an Analytic Strategy;285
10.1.5;5 Genes — The Atoms of Heredity: From Muller to Watson and Crick;291
10.1.6;6 From Genotypes to Phenotypes to Stereotypes;302
10.1.7;7 Population Genetics Upholds Darwinism;309
10.1.8;8 Opening Pandora’s Box: Cracks in the Dogma;311
10.1.9;9 Conclusion;316
10.1.10;Bibliography;318
10.2;The Development of Population Genetics;330
10.2.1;1 Early Days: The Law of Ancestral Heredity;332
10.2.2;2 Statistical Darwinism Vs. Mendelian Factors;336
10.2.3;3 From Statistical Biology to Mathematical Populations;340
10.2.4;4 Genes and Selection: The Synthesis Established;346
10.2.5;5 Debating the Details;350
10.2.6;Bibliography;353
10.3;Maximisation Principles in Evolutionary Biology;356
10.3.1;1 Introduction;356
10.3.2;2 Extremum Principles in Physics;356
10.3.3;3 Evolution as Fitness-Maximisation. (1) Fisher’s ‘Fundamental Theorem’;357
10.3.4;4 Evolution as Fitness-Maximisation. (2) Misinterpreting the Fundamental Theorem;360
10.3.5;5 Evolution as Fitness-Maximisation. (3) What Remains To Be Said;362
10.3.6;6 Evolution as Entropy Maximisation;363
10.3.7;7 Reconstructing Evolution: The Principle of Parsimony and Ockham’s Razor;364
10.3.8;8 Reconstructing Evolution: The Method of Minimum Evolution;366
10.3.9;Bibliography;367
10.4;Reductionism in Biology;370
10.4.1;1 Post-Positivist Intertheoretical Reduction;370
10.4.2;2 Intertheoretical Antireductionism;374
10.4.3;3 Historical Reductionism;379
10.4.4;4 Completing Why-Necessary Explanations in Evolutionary Biology;384
10.4.5;Bibliography;389
10.5;Traits, Genes, and Coding;390
10.5.1;1 The Uniqueness of Genes;390
10.5.2;2 Cause For Concern;393
10.5.3;3 False Starts and Dead Ends;399
10.5.4;4 A Better Idea;407
10.5.5;5 A Bullet to Bite;412
10.5.6;6 The Reach of the Code;416
10.5.7;Acknowledgements;418
10.5.8;Bibliography;418
11;Part IV Taxonomy;422
11.1;Species, Taxonomy, and Systematics;424
11.1.1;1 Introduction;424
11.1.2;2 Species;425
11.1.3;3 Taxonomic Pluralism;432
11.1.4;4 The Linnaean Hierarchy;437
11.1.5;Bibliography;446
11.2;Homology and Homoplasy;450
11.2.1;1 Introduction;450
11.2.2;2 Similarity;451
11.2.3;3 Hierarchy and Embryonic Development;452
11.2.4;4 Reconceptualizing Homology and Homoplasy;452
11.2.5;5 Homology and Analogy Delineated;453
11.2.6;6 Homoplasy;456
11.2.7;7 Homogeny and Homoplasy;456
11.2.8;8 Convergence;458
11.2.9;9 Parallelism;459
11.2.10;10 Reversals;460
11.2.11;11 Rudiments and Vestiges;461
11.2.12;12 Atavisms;462
11.2.13;13 The Continuum;462
11.2.14;Acknowledgements;463
11.2.15;Bibliography;466
11.3;Biological Conceptions of Race;476
11.3.1;1 Introduction;476
11.3.2;2 The Typological Race Concept;477
11.3.3;3 The Geographical Race Concept;481
11.3.4;4 Global Arguments against Human Biological Races;484
11.3.5;5 Ecological and Phylogenetic Conceptions of Race;489
11.3.6;6 Conclusion;498
11.3.7;Bibliography;499
12;Part V Special Topics;504
12.1;Formalisations of Evolutionary Biology;506
12.1.1;Introduction;506
12.1.2;1 The Path to a Galilean Conception of Scientific Theories;507
12.1.3;2 The Complex Structure of Evolutionary Theory;524
12.1.4;3 The Formalisation of Some Component Theories which Comprise Contemporary Evolutionary Theory;526
12.1.5;4 Revisiting Models and Theories;540
12.1.6;Bibliography;541
12.2;Functions;546
12.2.1;1 The Problem of Biological Functions;546
12.2.2;2 Organisms, Artefacts, and Agents;547
12.2.3;3 The Selected Effects Account;551
12.2.4;4 Problems with the Selected Effects Account;555
12.2.5;5 Malfunction;557
12.2.6;6 Goal-Directedness;560
12.2.7;7 Kantian Projectivism;565
12.2.8;8 Naturalism;566
12.2.9;Acknowledgements;567
12.2.10;Bibliography;567
12.3;Biological Approaches to Mental Representation;570
12.3.1;1 The Problem of Intentionality;570
12.3.2;2 Functional and Semantic Norms;571
12.3.3;3 The Great Divide;574
12.3.4;4 Bridging the Divide: Neuroscience;577
12.3.5;5 Some Problems For Teleosemantics;580
12.3.6;Bibliography;585
12.4;Innateness;588
12.4.1;Innateness as Growth;589
12.4.2;Chomsky’s Poverty of Stimulus;594
12.4.3;Canalization and the Epigenetic Landscape;596
12.4.4;Acknowledgements;604
12.4.5;Bibliography;604
12.5;Artificial Life;606
12.5.1;1 History and Methodology;606
12.5.2;2 Three Illustrations of Contemporary Artificial Life;609
12.5.3;3 Philosophical Implications of Artificial Life;613
12.5.4;4 Conclusions;621
12.5.5;Bibliography;622
12.6;Index;626