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161Cultural evolution: A general appraisalLudus Vitalis 13 (23): 139-150. 2005.The first objective of the paper is to propose a classification and characterize the major approaches to the modes of cultural evolution: (1) Research programs on the origins of the cultural capacity of the human species. (2) Description and explanation of cultural change with the help of concepts or models inspired by the schemes of population genetics. (3) Research on parallel evolution of genes and culture. (4) Narrow coupling between biological evolution and cultural evolution, or the “gene-…Read more
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31Philosophy and history of science in Sober: comments on Did Write the Origin Backwards?Philosophical Studies 172 (3): 803-811. 2015.Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards is Sober’s book that comes closest to history of science. Some reviews have expressed reservations about Sober’s inclination to subordinate historical accuracy to analytical clarity, and to contemporary discussions . My comments will be devoted to the kind of relationship that Sober entertains with history of science. I do not think that the author’s interest in history is superficial and instrumental.In the first section, I try to locate Sober’s book within…Read more
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22La biologie darwinienne de l'évolution est-elle 'reductionniste'?Revue Philosophique De Louvain 93 (1): 111-139. 1995.
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48The Concept of Individuality in Canguilhem's Philosophy of BiologyJournal of the History of Biology 31 (3). 1998.This paper does not intend to provide an exhaustive account of Canguilhem's thinking. It will focus on his philosophical approach to the biological sciences
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From relative growth to allometry (1918-1936)Revue d'Histoire des Sciences 53 (3-4): 475-498. 2000.
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Darwin's Struggle for Survival: Heredity and the Hypothesis of Natural SelectionJournal of the History of Biology 32 (2): 413-415. 1999.In Darwinism's Struggle for Survival Jean Gayon offers a philosophical interpretation of the history of theoretical Darwinism. He begins by examining the different forms taken by the hypothesis of natural selection in the nineteenth century and the major difficulties which it encountered, particularly with regard to its compatibility with the theory of heredity. He then shows how these difficulties were overcome during the seventy years which followed the publication of Darwin's Origin of Specie…Read more
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23Évolution et hasardLaval Théologique et Philosophique 61 (3): 527-537. 2005.Dans la théorie contemporaine de l’évolution, trois sens classiques de la notion de hasard interviennent : la notion ordinaire de chance, la notion probabiliste de l’aléatoire, et la notion épistémologique de contingence relativement à un système théorique. Ces trois notions suffisent à définir le statut du hasard aux principaux niveaux du processus évolutif où l’on invoque communément des effets fortuits : mutations, dérive génétique, révolutions génétiques, changements écologiques, macroévolut…Read more
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9Genetics after World War II: The Laboratories at GifCahiers Pour l'Histoire du CNRS 7 25-48. 1990.
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8Les fonctions: des organismes aux artefacts (edited book)Presses universitaires de France. 2010.Omniprésente dans l'ensemble des sciences de la vie, la catégorie de fonction a les allures d'un scandale épistémologique : attribuer une fonction à une structure ou à un processus biologique, c'est en effet suggérer qu'on l'explique par ses effets. Cet ouvrage, sans précédent en langue française examine les débats philosophiques contemporains sur les fonctions depuis une trentaine d'années, et propose de nouvelles voies d'analyse. Il confronte ces débats à l'usage de la notion de fonction dans …Read more
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142Economic Natural Selection: What Concept of Selection?Biological Theory 6 (4): 320-325. 2011.The article examines two cases of adoption of evolutionary ways of thinking by modern economists: Nelson and Winter’s (Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change, 1982), and evolutionary game theory (1990s and after). In both cases, the authors explicitly refer to natural selection in an economic context. I show that natural selection is taken in two different senses, which correspond to two general conceptions of the principle of natural selection, one of which contains reproduction and heredity as…Read more
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63International audience.
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51Nietzsche and DarwinIn Jane Maienschein & Michael Ruse (eds.), Biology and the foundation of ethics, Cambridge University Press. pp. 154--197. 1999.There is no doubt that Nietzsche, the most famous philosopher of the second half of the nineteenth century, was concerned with Darwin. This essay aims to provide a systematic evaluation of Nietzsche's work in those areas in which he felt the necessity to position himself with regard to Darwin, or "Darwinism," as he knew it.
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9Hérédité des caractères acquisIn Pietro Corsi (ed.), Lamarck, Philosophe de la Nature, Presses Universitaires De France. pp. 105--163. 2006.
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13Darwinism's Struggle for Survival: Heredity and the Hypothesis of Natural SelectionCambridge University Press. 1998.In Darwinism's Struggle for Survival Jean Gayon offers a philosophical interpretation of the history of theoretical Darwinism. He begins by examining the different forms taken by the hypothesis of natural selection in the nineteenth century and the major difficulties which it encountered, particularly with regard to its compatibility with the theory of heredity. He then shows how these difficulties were overcome during the seventy years which followed the publication of Darwin's Origin of Specie…Read more
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18Évolution et philosophieRevue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 194 (3). 2004.Les questions que le philosophe peut aujourd'hui se poser sur l'évolution sont de deux ordres. Les unes relèvent de la philosophic des sciences (de quel genre de science s'agit-il ?). Les autres regardent la philosophic en général: dans quelle mesure l'évolution conduit-elle à réexaminer certaines grandes questions philosophiques traditionnelles, comme celles des fondements de l'épistémologie (théorie de la connaissance) et de l'éthique ? The questions a philosopher may raise today about evoluti…Read more
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34The singular fate of genetics in the history of French biology, 1900?1940Journal of the History of Biology 21 (3): 357-402. 1988.In this study we have examined the reception of Mendelism in France from 1900 to 1940, and the place of some of the extra-Mendelian traditions of research that contributed to the development of genetics in France after World War II
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22Literally speaking, "Philosophy of biology" is a rather old expression. William Whewell coined it in 1840, at the very time he introduced the expression "philosophy of science". Whewell was fond of creating neologisms, like Auguste Comte, his French counterpart in the field of the philosophical reflection about science. Historians of science know that a few years earlier, in 1834, Whewell had generated a small scandal when he proposed the word "scientist" as a general term by which "the students…Read more
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Edited volumes-Bachelard dans le mondeHistory and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 22 (3): 453. 2000.
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University of Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneDepartment for Teaching and Research in Philosophy (UFR10)Regular Faculty
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Biology |
20th Century Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Biology |
20th Century Philosophy |