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10Morality as a Biological Phenomenon: The Presuppositions of Sociobiological Research by Gunther S. Stent (review)Isis 73 (4): 579-579. 1982.
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111Darwinism and determinismZygon 22 (4): 419-442. 1987.Does Darwinism generally, and human sociobiology in particular, lead to an unwarranted (and possibly socially offensive) determinism? I argue that one must separate out different senses of determinism, and that once one has done this, a Darwinian approach to human nature can be seen to shed important light on our intuitions about free will, constraint, and control.
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31Taking Darwin Seriously: A Naturalistic Approach to PhilosophyPrometheus Books. 1986.Brings together traditional philosophy and modern sociobiology to examine evolutionary biology and its relation to the evolution of knowledge and ethics
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23Evolutionary Biology and Cultural Values: Is It Irremediably Corrupt?Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Supplementary Volume 20 (sup1): 43-68. 1994.In recent years, philosophers have come to realize that the relationship between science and values raises questions which are both important and not readily answered. It is true that the major figures in that tradition known as ‘logical empiricism’ appreciated that science always exceeds its empirical grasp and that it is necessary for scientists to be guided and constrained by so-called ‘epistemic values,’ these being values (in the words of one supporter) ‘presumed to promote the truth-like c…Read more
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66Why I am an accommodationist and proud of itZygon 50 (2): 361-375. 2015.There is a strong need of a reasoned defense of what was known as the “independence” position of the science–religion relationship but that more recently has been denigrated as the “accommodationist” position, namely that while there are parts of religion—fundamentalist Christianity in particular—that clash with modern science, the essential parts of religion do not and could not clash with science. A case for this position is made on the grounds of the essentially metaphorical nature of science…Read more
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1Atheism, Naturalism and Science: Three in One?In Peter Harrison (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Science and Religion, Cambridge University Press. 2010.
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27Charles Lyell and the Philosophers of ScienceBritish Journal for the History of Science 9 (2): 121-131. 1976.Two of the most influential evaluations of Charles Lyell's geological ideas were those of the philosophers of science, John F. W. Herschel and William Whewell. In this paper I shall argue that the great difference between these evaluations—whereas Herschel was fundamentally sympathetic to Lyell's geologizing, Whewell was fundamentally opposed—is a function of the fact that Herschel was an empiricist and Whewell a rationalist. For convenience, I shall structure the discussion around the three key…Read more
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Teleology and the Biological SciencesIn Nicholas Rescher (ed.), Current Issues in Teleology, University Press of America. pp. 61. 1986.
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3Darwin 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 89-92. 2014.
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18The Structure of Biological Theories (review)International Studies in Philosophy 25 (1): 109-110. 1993.
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52Intelligent design theory and its contextThink 4 (11): 7-16. 2005.Michael Ruse introduces the debate over intelligent design creationism
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15Studies in the Philosophy of Biology. Reduction and Related Problems by Franciso José Ayala; Theodosius Dobzhansky (review)Isis 67 479-481. 1976.
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67Gaps 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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105Science and religion today (review)International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 70 (2): 167-177. 2011.Science and religion today Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s11153-011-9316-3 Authors Michael Ruse, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA Journal International Journal for Philosophy of Religion Online ISSN 1572-8684 Print ISSN 0020-7047
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132Making Room For Faith In An Age Of ScienceProceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 85 43-58. 2011.Are science and religion necessarily in conflict? This essay, by stressing the importance of metaphor in scientific understanding, argues that this is not so. There are certain important questions about existence, ethics, sentience and ultimate meaning and purpose that not only does science not answer but that science does not even attempt to answer. One does not necessarily have to turn to religion—one could remain agnostic or skeptical—but nothing in science precludes religion from offering an…Read more
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3Darwin's Metaphor: Nature's Place in Victorian Culture (review)British Journal for the History of Science 20 (1): 118-119. 1987.
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32Biological adaptationPhilosophy of Science 39 (4): 525-528. 1972.In successive issues of this journal Ronald Munson [2] and I [4] have made, quite independently, conflicting claims about the relationship between biological adaptation and biological function. I state, admittedly without proof, that “a functional statement in biology draws attention to the fact that what is under consideration is an adaptation or something which confers an ‘adaptive advantage’ on its possessor”. This was an identity claim. Munson claims, with proof, that “adaptation and functio…Read more
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17Mike Dixon;, Gregory Radick. Darwin in Ilkley. 126 pp., illus., index. Stroud, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2009. £12.99 (review)Isis 102 (1): 179-179. 2011.
Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Religion |
Philosophy of Biology |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Religion |
Philosophy of Biology |