-
131Pruning the tree of lifeBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 46 (1): 59-80. 1995.argue that natural selection does not explain the genotypic arid phenotypic properties of individuals. On this view, natural selection explains the adaptedness of individuals, not by explaining why the individuals that exist have the adaptations they do, but rather by explaining why the individuals that exist are the ones with those adaptations. This paper argues that this ‘Negative’ view of natural selection ignores the fact that natural selection is a cumulative selection process. So understoo…Read more
-
97What does natural selection explain? Correction to SoberPhilosophy of Science 55 (3): 422-426. 1988.In this paper I argue against Sober's claim that natural selection does not explain the traits of individuals. Sober argues that natural selection only explains the distribution of traits in a population. My point is that the explanation of an individual's traits involves us in a description of the individual's ancestry, and in an explanation of the distribution of traits in that ancestral population. Thus Sober is wrong, natural selection is part of the explanation of the traits of individuals
Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Mind |
Philosophy of Biology |