Philosophy of Biology.
Title:
Philosophy of Biology.
Author:
Garvey, Brian.
ISBN:
9781317493679
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (289 pages)
Contents:
Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. The argument in Darwin's Origin -- 1.1 Earlier attempts -- 1.2 Variation and inheritance -- 1.3 The struggle for existence -- 1.4 Natural selection -- 2. The power of genes -- 2.1 Introducing the gene -- 2.2 Genes and how organisms are made -- 2.3 Genes as agents -- 3. Units of selection -- 3.1 Genes versus individual organisms -- 3.2 Individual organisms as units of selection -- 3.3 Groups of organisms, and the question of altruism -- 3.4 Memes -- 4. Panglossianism and its discontents -- 4.1 The uniqueness of natural selection -- 4.2 The accusation of "panglossianism" -- 4.3 So what is wrong with panglossianism? -- 4.4 A storm in a teacup? -- 5. The role of development -- 5.1 A nineteenth-century idea: recapitulation -- 5.2 New developments in developmental biology -- 5.3 Evo-devo -- 5.4 Developmental systems theory -- 6. Nature and nurture -- 6.1 Why does innateness seem to matter so much? -- 6.2 But what is innateness? -- 6.3 The ordinary-language concept -- 6.4 Canalization -- 6.5 Generative entrenchment -- 6.6 A deflationary approach -- 6.7 Conclusion -- 7. Function: "what it is for" versus "what it does" -- 7.1 What it is for -- 7.2 What it has been selected for -- 7.3 What it does -- 7.4 Conclusion -- 8. Biological categories -- 8.1 Introduction: natural kinds in general -- 8.2 Taxonomy -- 8.3 What are the natural kinds of biology? -- 9. Species and their special problems -- 9.1 The interbreeding criterion -- 9.2 Species as individuals -- 9.3 A pluralistic approach -- 10. Biology and philosophy of science -- 10.1 Lawlessness in biology -- 10.2 Does biology have real laws? -- 10.3 Comprehensiveness, unity and simplicity -- 10.4 Conclusion -- 11. Evolution and epistemology -- 11.1 Conjectures and refutations -- 11.2 The reliability of our sources.
11.3 The limitations of our minds -- 12. Evolution and religion -- 12.1 Does the theory of evolution support atheism? -- 12.2 "God of the gaps" arguments -- 12.3 Evolution and explaining religion -- 13. Evolution and human nature -- 13.1 Sociobiology and its controversies -- 13.2 Evolutionary psychology's grand synthesis -- 13.3 Conclusion -- 14. Biology and ethics -- 14.1 Fitness as a normative concept -- 14.2 The naturalistic fallacy -- 14.3 Ought implies can -- 14.4 Altruism -- 14.5 Intuitions again -- Notes -- Further reading -- Bibliography -- Index.
Abstract:
This major new series in the philosophy of science aims to provide a new generation of textbooks for the subject. The series will not only offer fresh treatments of core topics in the theory and methodology of scientific knowledge, but also introductions to newer areas of the discipline. Furthermore, the series will cover topics in current science that raise significant foundational issues both for scientific theory and for philosophy more generally. Biology raises distinct questions of its own not only for philosophy of science, but for metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. This comprehensive new textbook for a rapidly growing field of study provides students new to the subject with an up-to-date presentation of the key philosophical issues. Care is taken throughout to keep the technicalities accessible to the non-biologist but without sacrificing the philosophical subtleties. The first part of the book covers the philosophical challenges posed by evolution and evolutionary biology, beginning with Darwin's central argument in the Origin of the Species. Individual chapters cover natural selection, the selfish gene, alternative units of selection, developmental systems theory, adaptionism and issues in macroevolution. The second part of the book examines philosophical questions arising in connection with biological traits, function, nature and nurture, and biological kinds. The third part of the book examines metaphysical questions, biology's relation with the traditional concerns of philosophy of science, and how evolution has been introduced into epistemological debates. The final part considers the relevance of biology to questions about ethics, religion and human nature.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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