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61Philosophy of biology (edited book)Prometheus Books. 1998.Biologists study life in its various physical forms, while philosophers of biology seek answers to questions about the nature, purpose, and impact of this research. What permits us to distinguish between living and nonliving things even though both are made of the same minerals? Is the complex structure of organisms proof that a creative force is working its will in the physical universe, or are existing life-forms the random result of an evolutionary process working itself out over eons of time…Read more
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Modern biologists and the argument from designIn Neil A. Manson (ed.), God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science, Routledge. 2003.
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Evolutionary naturalismIn A. J. Sanford & P. N. Johnson-Laird (eds.), Mind, T & T Clark. pp. 401-405. 2003.
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34Taking Darwin Seriously: A Naturalistic Approach to PhilosophyPrometheus Books. 1986.Brings together traditional philosophy and modern sociobiology to examine evolutionary biology and its relation to the evolution of knowledge and ethics
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27INTRODUCTION I first read Charles Darwin's masterpiece, On the Origin of Species , some twenty years ago. At once I fell under its spell - an emotion which ...
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22Social darwinism updated? - The temptations of evolutionary ethicspaul Lawrence farber; university of california press, Berkeley, CA, Los Angeles, CA, & London, 1994, pp. XI + 210, price US$40.00 hardback, ISBN 0-520-08773-9, price US$16.95 paperback, ISBN 0-520-21369-6darwinian natural right: The biological ethics of human naturelarry arnhart; SUNY press, new York, 1998, pp. XII + 322, price US$26.50 hardback, ISBN 0-7914-3693- (review)Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 33 (4): 753-760. 2002.
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107The biological sciences can act as a ground for ethicsIn Francisco José Ayala & Robert Arp (eds.), Contemporary debates in philosophy of biology, Wiley-blackwell. 2010.This paper is interested in the relationship between evolutionary thinking and moral behavior and commitments, ethics. There is a traditional way of forging or conceiving of the relationship. This is traditional evolutionary ethics, known as Social Darwinism. Many think that this position is morally pernicious, a redescription of the worst aspects of modern, laissez-faire capitalism in fancy biological language. It is argued that, in fact, there is much more to be said for Social Darwinism than …Read more
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123On the nature of the evolutionary process: The correspondence between Theodosius Dobzhansky and John C. Greene (review)Biology and Philosophy 11 (4): 445-491. 1996.This is the correspondence (1959–1969), on the nature of the evolutionary process, between the biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky and the historian John C. Greene.
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37Review of Sober and Wilson, Unto Others: The evolution and psychology of unselfish behavior (review)Ethics 110 (2): 443-445. 2000.
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87Science, truth, and democracy (review)Australasian Journal of Philosophy 81 (2). 2003.Book Information Science, Truth, and Democracy. By Philip Kitcher. Oxford. New York. 2001. Pp. xiii + 219. US$27.50.
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412Biological species: Natural kinds, individuals, or what?British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 38 (2): 225-242. 1987.What are biological species? Aristotelians and Lockeans agree that they are natural kinds; but, evolutionary theory shows that neither traditional philosophical approach is truly adequate. Recently, Michael Ghiselin and David Hull have argued that species are individuals. This claim is shown to be against the spirit of much modern biology. It is concluded that species are natural kinds of a sort, and that any 'objectivity' they possess comes from their being at the focus of a consilience of indu…Read more
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61Is sociobiology a new paradigm?Philosophy of Science 54 (1): 98-104. 1987.Is sociobiology a new paradigm? A number of people have claimed that it is. I argue that, sociologically speaking, it may well be. But epistemologically, it is not. The case rests on one's interpretation of the major Darwinian evolutionary mechanism, natural selection. In this note, it is shown that sociobiology relies on an orthodox understanding of selection. Thus, in crucial epistemological respects, sociobiology is continuous with the rest of Darwinian evolutionary theory
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45The philosophical naturalists: Themes in early nineteenth-century british biology (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 24 (3): 423-425. 1986.
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