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35Abusing Science: The Case against CreationismJournal of the History of Biology 17 (1): 147-148. 1984.
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27Charles Lyell and the Philosophers of ScienceBritish Journal for the History of Science 9 (2): 121-131. 1976.Two of the most influential evaluations of Charles Lyell's geological ideas were those of the philosophers of science, John F. W. Herschel and William Whewell. In this paper I shall argue that the great difference between these evaluations—whereas Herschel was fundamentally sympathetic to Lyell's geologizing, Whewell was fundamentally opposed—is a function of the fact that Herschel was an empiricist and Whewell a rationalist. For convenience, I shall structure the discussion around the three key…Read more
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64But is It Science?: The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy (edited book)Prometheus Books. 1988.Preface 9 PART I: RELIGIOUS, SCIENTIFIC, AND PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND Introduction to Part I 19 1. The Bible 27 2. Natural Theology 33 William Paley 3. On the Origin of Species 38 Charles Darwin 4. Objections to Mr. Darwin’s Theory of the Origin of Species 65 Adam Sedgwick 5. The Origin of Species 73 Thomas H. Huxley 6. What Is Darwinism? 82 Charles Hodge 7. Darwinism as a Metaphysical Research Program 105 Karl Popper 8. Karl Popper’s Philosophy of Biology 116 Michael Ruse 9. Human Nature: One E…Read more
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46The philosophy of biology (edited book)Oxford University Press. 1973.Drawing on work of the past decade, this volume brings together articles from the philosophy, history, and sociology of science, and many other branches of the biological sciences. The volume delves into the latest theoretical controversies as well as burning questions of contemporary social importance. The issues considered include the nature of evolutionary theory, biology and ethics, the challenge from religion, and the social implications of biology today (in particular the Human Genome Proj…Read more
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13The Possibility of Naturalism: A Philosophical Critique of the Contemporary Human Sciences by Roy Bhaskar (review)Isis 72 493-495. 1981.
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4The Possibility of Naturalism: A Philosophical Critique of the Contemporary Human Sciences. Roy Bhaskar (review)Isis 72 (3): 493-495. 1981.
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6The Development of Darwin's Theory: Natural History, Natural Theology, and Natural Selection, 1838-1859. Dov Ospovat (review)Isis 74 (2): 292-293. 1983.
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31Species as individuals: Logical, biological, and philosophical problemsBehavioral and Brain Sciences 4 (2): 299-300. 1981.
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39Response to Williams: Selfishness is not enoughZygon 23 (4): 413-416. 1988.I agree with George Williams's most significant point: both questions and answers about our moral natures lie in our biological origins. He fails, however, to show that nature is morally evil and that therefore we should vigilantly resist it. The products of evolution are morally neutral, but the human moral sense is arguably a positive good. Morality is functional. It does not require ultimate justification in the sense of correspondence with or attack upon reality “out there.” It is an adaptat…Read more
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31Rigorous Regularism: Physical Laws Without Necessity (review)Dialogue 27 (3): 523. 1988.This is a book about laws. Not, however, about the laws of which we learned in science classes at school: “scientific laws”. It is rather about those universalities which govern the world of facts, what Swartz calls “physical laws”—although this language is slightly misleading because the term is intended to cover the living as well as the non-living world. Of course, it may well be that a scientific law does capture the essence of a physical law, but not necessarily or usually. A physical law b…Read more
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43Problems of scientific revolution: Progress and obstacles to progress in the sciences (review)Erkenntnis 13 (1): 407-416. 1978.
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92Medicine as social science: The case of Freud on homosexualityJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 6 (4): 361-386. 1981.This paper considers the question of whether the explanation of homosexual orientation offered by Sigmund Freud qualifies as a genuine explanation, judged by the criteria of the social sciences. It is argued that the explanation, namely that homosexual orientation is a function of atypical parental influences, is indeed an explanation of the kind found in the social sciences. Nevertheless, it is concluded that to date Freud's hypotheses about homosexuality are no more than unproven speculations.…Read more
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14Formal Thought and the Science of Man (review)International Studies in Philosophy 20 (1): 82-83. 1988.
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34Evolutionary Ethics: Healthy Prospect or Last Infirmity?Canadian Journal of Philosophy 18 (S1): 27-73. 1988.Evolutionary ethics, the idea that the evolutionary process contains the basis for a full and adequate understanding of human moral nature, is an old and disreputable notion. It was popularized in the 19th century by the English general man of science, Herbert Spencer, who began advocating an evolutionary approach to ethical understanding, even before Charles Darwin published hisOrigin of Speciesin 1859 (Spencer 1857, 1892). Although it was never regarded with much enthusiasm by professional phi…Read more
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Review of The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw (review)Environmental Ethics 3 75-83. 1981.
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1Respecting Animals Values--A Discussion Review of Tom Regan, The Case for Animal RightsJournal for Agricultural Ethics 1 225-232. 1988.
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The biological sciences can act as a ground for ethicsIn Francisco José Ayala & Robert Arp (eds.), Contemporary debates in philosophy of biology, Wiley-blackwell. 2010.
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4Why We Hate: Understanding the Roots of Human ConflictOUP Usa. 2022.Humans are such violent and hate-filled animals. At the group level, think of the endless wars—First World War, Second Word War, Korea, Vietnam, and so the dismal list expands. At the individual level, humans show hatred and suspicion—prejudice—against fellow humans. Outsiders, class, color, sexual orientation, handicap, religion, women. The Mexican wall. Brexit. There are few characteristics that people have not at some time despised and use as the basis for belittlement and exclusion. How does…Read more
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9What Kind of Revolution Occurred in Geology?PSA Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1978 (2): 240-273. 1978.The one thing upon which we can all agree is that just over ten years ago a major revolution occurred in the science of geology. Geologists switched from accepting a static earth-picture, to endorsing a vision of an earth with its surface constantly in motion. (Cox [4]; Hallam [12]; Marvin [28]; Wilson [56]). It is true that early in this century the German geologist Alfred Wegener argued that the continents as we today find them have “drifted” to their positions from other positions widely diff…Read more
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7The Gaia hypothesis: science on a pagan planetUniversity of Chicago Press. 2013.The Gaia hypothesis -- The paradox -- The pagan planet -- Mechanism -- Organicism -- Hylozoism -- Gaia revisited -- Understanding.
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Form and function in biology : placing Brian GoodwinIn Brian C. Goodwin, David Lambert, Chris Chetland & Craig Millar (eds.), The intuitive way of knowing: a tribute to Brian Goodwin, Floris Books. 2013.
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Heredity" and "The Evolution of Ethics"In Jeffrey Foss (ed.), Science and the World: Philosophical Approaches, Broadview Press. 2013.
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