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30Evolutionary biology and teleological thinkingIn André Ariew, Robert Cummins & Mark Perlman (eds.), Functions: New Essays in the Philosophy of Psychology and Biology, Oxford University Press. pp. 33--60. 2002.
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42A 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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154Can a Darwinian be a Christian? Sociobiological IssuesZygon 35 (2): 299-316. 2000.This essay looks at the Darwinian sociobiological account of morality, arguing that in major respects this philosophy should prove congenial to theChristian. It is shown how modern-day Darwinism, starting from a ‘selfish gene’ perspective, nevertheless argues that a genuine moral sense is part of our evolutionary heritage. This moral sense yields directives much in tune with Christian prescriptions. It is argued also that Darwinian sociobiology can itself offer no metaethical foundations for mor…Read more
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40Natural theology: The biological sciencesIn J. H. Brooke, F. Watts & R. R. Manning (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology, Oxford Up. pp. 397. 2013.This chapter demonstrates the significance of the biological sciences in natural theology. It does so by considering three major topics: the argument from design, the problem of evil, and the place of humans in the cosmic scheme of things. In the light of modern biology, specifically modern Darwinian evolutionary theory, there is little support for definitive proofs of the nature and existence of the Christian God. However, notwithstanding arguments to the contrary, there is nothing in modern Da…Read more
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24Darwin versus the Liberals: The third assault of the intelligent designersStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 46 (1): 89-92. 2014.
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27Forty Years a Philosopher of Biology: Why EvoDevo Makes Me Still Excited About My SubjectBiological Theory 1 (1): 35-37. 2006.
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12Science: Men, Methods, Goals. Edited by Boruch Brody and Nicholas Capaldi. New York, W. A. Benjamin. 1968. Pp. 343. Hard cover $8.00; Paperback $2.85 (review)Dialogue 8 (1): 164-165. 1969.
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22Is Darwinism past its “sell-by” date? The Origin of Species at 150Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 42 (1): 5-11. 2011.Many people worry that the theory of evolution that Charles Darwin gave in his Origin of Species is now dated and no longer part of modern science. This essay challenges this claim, arguing that the central core of the Origin is as vital today as it ever was, although naturally the science keeps moving on. Darwin provided the foundation not the finished product
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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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219Making room for faith in an age of science: A response to David WisdoZygon 46 (3): 655-672. 2011.Abstract. I respond to the criticisms of David Wisdo of my position on the relationship between science and religion. I argue that although he gives a full and fair account of my position, he fails to grasp fully my use of the metaphorical basis of modern science in my argument that, because of its mechanistic commitment, there are some questions that science not only does not answer but that science does not even attempt to answer. Hence, my position stands and plays a crucial role in our under…Read more
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10Discovery in the Physical Sciences. By Richard J. Blackwell. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1969. Pp. xii, 240. $8.50 (review)Dialogue 9 (3): 480-485. 1970.
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124On 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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22Social darwinism updated? - The temptations of evolutionary ethicspaul Lawrence farber; university of california press, Berkeley, CA, Los Angeles, CA, & London, 1994, pp. XI + 210, price US$40.00 hardback, ISBN 0-520-08773-9, price US$16.95 paperback, ISBN 0-520-21369-6darwinian natural right: The biological ethics of human naturelarry arnhart; SUNY press, new York, 1998, pp. XII + 322, price US$26.50 hardback, ISBN 0-7914-3693- (review)Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 33 (4): 753-760. 2002.
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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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Modern biologists and the argument from designIn Neil A. Manson (ed.), God and design: the teleological argument and modern science, Routledge. 2003.
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36Darwinism and mechanism: metaphor in scienceStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 36 (2): 285-302. 2005.There are two main senses of ‘mechanism’, both deriving from the metaphor of nature as a machine. One sense refers to contrivance or design, as in ‘the plant’s mechanism of attracting butterflies’. The other sense refers to cause or law process, as in ‘the mechanism of heredity’. In his work on evolution, Charles Darwin showed that organisms are produced by a mechanism in the second sense, although he never used this language. He also discussed contrivance, where he did use the language of mecha…Read more
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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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Evolutionary naturalismIn A. J. Sanford & P. N. Johnson-Laird (eds.), The nature and limits of human understanding, T & T Clark. pp. 401-405. 2003.
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77The nature of scientific models : Formal V material analogyPhilosophy of the Social Sciences 3 (1): 63-80. 1973.
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26Popular Science to Professional ScienceIn Massimo Pigliucci & Maarten Boudry (eds.), Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem, University of Chicago Press. pp. 225. 2013.
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3The Process of Model-Building in the Behavioral Sciences (review)Theory and Decision 4 (3/4): 401. 1974.
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57Evolutionary Ethics and the Search for Predecessors: Kant, Hume, and All the Way Back to Aristotle?Social Philosophy and Policy 8 (1): 59. 1990.Hopes of applying the findings and speculations of evolutionary theorizing to the problems of ethics have yielded a program with a bad reputation. At the level of norms – substantival ethics – it has been a platform for some of the more grotesque socio-politico-economic suggestions of our times. At the level of justification – metaethics – it has opened the way to some of the more blatant fallacies in the undergraduate textbook. Recently, however, a number of people, philosophers and biologists,…Read more
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30A reply to Wright's analysis of functional statementsPhilosophy of Science 40 (2): 277-280. 1973.
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Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Religion |
Philosophy of Biology |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Religion |
Philosophy of Biology |