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83A few last words-until the next time!Zygon 29 (1): 75-79. 1994.Appreciative as I am of my critics'comments, I find, to no one's surprise, that I can bear them with equanimity, even complacency. The wide spread of opinions surely justifies my intellectual composure.
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55The new evolutionary ethicsIn Matthew H. Nitecki & Doris V. Nitecki (eds.), Evolutionary Ethics, Suny Press. pp. 133-162. 1993.
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44Morality as a Biological Phenomenon: The Presuppositions of Sociobiological Research by Gunther S. Stent (review)Isis 73 (4): 579-579. 1982.
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225Response to the Commentary: Pro JudiceScience, Technology, and Human Values 7 (41): 19-23. 1982.
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20The Process of Model-Building in the Behavioral Sciences (review)Theory and Decision 4 (3-4): 373-426. 1974.
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132Evo-devo: A New Evolutionary Paradigm?Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 56 8-9. 2005.The homologies of process within morphogenetic fields provide some of the best evidence for evolution—just as skeletal and organ homologies did earlier. Thus, the evidence for evolution is better than ever. The role of natural selection in evolution, how–ever, is seen to play less an important role. It is merely a filter for unsuccessful morphologies generated by development. Population genetics is destined to change if it is not to become as irrelevant to evolution as Newtonian mechanics is to …Read more
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46Forty Years a Philosopher of Biology: Why EvoDevo Makes Me Still Excited About My SubjectBiological Theory 1 (1): 35-37. 2006.
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83The Darwinian Revolution, as seen in 1979 and as seen Twenty-Five Years Later in 2004Journal of the History of Biology 38 (1): 3-17. 2005.My book, "The Darwinian Revolution" gives an overview of the revolution as understood at the time of its writing (1979). It shows that many factors were involved, from straight science through philosophical methodology, and on to religious influences and challenges. Also of importance were social factors, not the least of which was the professionalization of science in Britain in the 19th century. Since the appearance of that book, new, significant factors have become apparent, and here I discus…Read more
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120Charles Darwin and group selectionAnnals of Science 37 (6): 615-630. 1980.The question of the levels at which natural selection can be said to operate is much discussed by biologists today and is a key factor in the recent controversy about sociobiology. It is shown that this problem is one to which Charles Darwin addressed himself at some length. It is argued that apart from some slight equivocation over man, Darwin opted firmly for hypotheses supposing selection always to work at the level of the individual rather than the group. However, natural selection's co-disc…Read more
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177On 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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64Sociobiology, Sex, and Science (review)International Studies in Philosophy 29 (4): 121-122. 1997.
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152Intelligent design theory and its contextThink 4 (11): 7-16. 2005.Michael Ruse introduces the debate over intelligent design creationism
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48Biological Science and Feminist ValuesPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1984. 1984.Feminist writers argue that values permeate science. Using Ernan McMullin's discussion of values in science as a guide, the feminist position is accepted and an attempt is made to show why their position is one which should be noted by conventional philosophers of science.
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47What Kind of Revolution Occurred in Geology?PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1978. 1978.
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100Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Systematicity: The Nature of Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press , xiii+287 pp., $65.00 (review)Philosophy of Science 81 (2): 284-288. 2014.
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150Science and values: My debt to Ernan McMullinZygon 47 (4): 666-685. 2012.Ernan McMullin's 1982 presidential address to the Philosophy of Science Association dealt with the issue of science and values, arguing that although scientists are rightfully wary of the infiltration of cultural and social values, their work is guided by “epistemic values,” such as the drive for consistency and predictive fertility. McMullin argued that it is the pursuit of these epistemic values that drives nonepistemic values from science. Using the case study of the fate of the nonepistemic …Read more
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94Gaps in the argument: A discussion of certain aspects of cosmologyZygon 45 (1): 221-227. 2010.In this discussion review of Robert John Russell's collection of essays I agree with him about the necessity of human existence given the claims of Christian theology. I look in detail at his suggestions for speaking to this issue, especially his thesis of NIODA—noninterventionist objective divine action. I end up disagreeing with the suggestion and argue that in respects Russell is tackling the science-religion relationship in the wrong way.
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64Biology and the History of the Future, Edited by C. H. Waddington, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1972, pp. vii, 72, 50 p (review)Dialogue 13 (2): 402-403. 1974.
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200The species problem: A reply to HullBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 22 (4): 369-371. 1971.
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139Naturalism and the scientific methodIn Stephen Bullivant & Michael Ruse (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Atheism, Oxford University Press Uk. pp. 383. 2015.Methodological naturalism is the claim that there is no need to invoke the supernatural, including God or gods, in giving scientific explanations. Metaphysical naturalism is the claim that there is no supernatural, including God or gods. Does methodological naturalism entail metaphysical naturalism? Many seem to think that it does, in practice if not in principle. This essay questions this assumption.
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222Darwin's debt to philosophy: An examination of the influence of the philosophical ideas of John F.W. Herschel and William Whewell on the development of Charles Darwin's theory of evolutionStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 6 (2): 159-181. 1975.
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112A reply to Wright's analysis of functional statementsPhilosophy of Science 40 (2): 277-280. 1973.
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73The Philosophy of Evolution Uffe J. Jensen and Rom Harre, editors Brighton: Harvester, 1981. Pp. vii, 299. £22.50 (review)Dialogue 23 (1): 171-172. 1984.
Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
| Philosophy of Religion |
| Philosophy of Biology |
Areas of Interest
| Philosophy of Religion |
| Philosophy of Biology |