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100Review of the Cambridge Companion to Darwin (review)Reports of the National Center for Science Education. 2010.Part I includes pieces by Phillip Sloan on how Darwin theorized evolution, Jon Hodge on the Notebooks and the years Darwin spent in London after the voyage of the Beagle , and essays on Darwin’s views on heredity (Jim Endersby), on mind and the emotions (Robert Richards) and the argument structure of the Origin (Ken Waters). All of these are excellent and nuanced, and well referenced, written by leading specialists on each topic. Endersby’s essay in particular introduced me to material I hadn’t …Read more
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99The roles, reasons and restrictions of science blogsTrends in Ecology and Evolution 23 (8): 411-413. 2008.Over the past few years, blogging (“web logging”) has become a major social movement, and as such includes blogs by scientists about science. Blogs are highly idiosyncratic, personal and ephemeral means of public expression, and yet they contribute to the current practice and reputation of science as much as, if not more than, any popular scientific work or visual presentation. It is important, therefore, to understand this phenomenon.
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90Now a section in my 2018 book _Species: The evolution of the idea_. It is often claimed that species are the units of evolution, but this is not defined or clearly explained. In this paper I will argue that species are phenomenal objects that stand in need of explanation, but that they are not objects required by any theory of biology. I further define, or rather describe, species as the genealogical cluster of various lineages at the genetic, haplotype, genomic, organismic, and population level…Read more
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57Species: The Evolution of the IdeaCRC Press. 2018.Features Covers the philosophical and historical development of the concept of "species" Documents that variation was recognized by pre-Darwinian scholars Includes a section on the debates since the time of the New Synthesis Better suited to non-philosophers Summary Over time the complex idea of "species" has evolved, yet its meaning is far from resolved. This comprehensive work is a fresh look at an idea central to the field of biology by tracing its history from antiquity to today. Species is…Read more
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55An oft-repeated claim is that there is information in some biological entity or process, most especially in genes. Some of these claims derive from the Central Dogma, population genetics, and the neo-Darwinian program. Others derive from attacks upon evolution, in an attempt to show that “information cannot be created” by natural selection. In this paper I will try to show that the term “information” is a homonym for a range of distinct notions, and that these notions are either of concrete prop…Read more
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42Ron Amundson, The Changing Role of the Embryo in Evolutionary Thought Reviewed byPhilosophy in Review 26 (1): 1-3. 2006.
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27Why Do Believers Believe Silly Things? Costly Signaling and the Function of DenialismIn Hans van Eyghen, Rik Peels & Gijsbert van den Brink (eds.), New Developments in the Cognitive Science of Religion - The Rationality of Religious Belief, Springer. pp. 109-129. 2018.People often have beliefs that are widely regarded as silly by the experts or by the general population. This leads us to ask why believers believe silly things if they are widely thought to be silly, and then why believers believe the specific things they do. I propose that silly beliefs function as in-group and out-group tribal markers. Such markers act as an honest costly signal; honest and costly because such beliefs are hard to fake. Then I offer a developmentalist account of belief formati…Read more
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24Species Problems and Beyond: Contemporary Issues in Philosophy and Practice (edited book)CRC Press. 2022.Species, or ‘the Species Problem’, is a topic in science, in the philosophy of science, and in general philosophy. There is not one, but many, species problems, and these are dealt with in this volume. Species are often thought of as units of biology, to be used in ecology, conservation, classification, and theory. The chapters in this book present opposing views on the current philosophical and conceptual issues of the Species Problem in biology. Divided into four sections Theories and Concepts…Read more
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18This chapter contains sections titled: Progress and the Tree of History Discovering the Past Teleological Thinking References and Further Reading.
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17Philosophy of Biology, by Peter Godfrey-Smith: Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014, pp. ix + 187, US$29.95Australasian Journal of Philosophy 93 (1): 206-207. 2015.
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17The appearance of Lamarckism in the evolution of cultureIn J. Laurent & J. Nightingale (eds.), Darwinism and Evolutionary Economics, Edward Elgar. pp. 160-183. 2001.
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4Does Philosophy have a role in science today?COSMOS: The Science of Everything (18): 44-45. 2007.
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4Evolving ThoughtsIn R. A. Cartwright & B. Zivkovic (eds.), The Best Science Writing on Blogs: The Open Laboratory 2007, Coturnix. pp. 92-95. 2007.
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Intelligent design and religion as a natural phenomenon (edited book)Asjgate. 2010.Edited book of original papers
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Philosophy of Religion |
Philosophy of Biology |
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