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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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41Charles 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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Teleology and the Biological SciencesIn Nicholas Rescher (ed.), Current Issues in Teleology, University Press of America. pp. 61. 1986.
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115Darwinian reductionism, or, how to stop worrying and love molecular biology – Alex rosenbergDarwinian populations and natural selection – Peter Godfrey-SmithPhilosophical Quarterly 60 (238): 204-208. 2010.
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9Book Review:Towards a Theoretical Biology C. H. Waddington (review)Philosophy of Science 39 (1): 105-. 1972.
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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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259Genesis revisited: Can we do better than God?Zygon 19 (3): 297-316. 1984.WE ARE FACED WITH GROWING POWERS OF MANIPULATION OF OUR HUMAN GENETIC MAKEUP. WHILE NOT DENYING THAT THESE POWERS CAN BE USED FOR GREAT GOOD, IT BEHOOVES US TO THINK NOW OF POSSIBLE UPPER LIMITS TO THE CHANGE THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO EFFECT. I ARGUE THAT THOUGHTS OF CHANGING THE HUMAN SPECIES INTO A RACE OF SUPERMEN AND SUPERWOMEN ARE BASED ON WEAK PREMISES. GENETIC FINE-TUNING MAY INDEED BE IN ORDER; WHOLESALE GENETIC CHANGE IS NOT
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29Biological 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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37Narrative Explanation and the Theory of EvolutionCanadian Journal of Philosophy 1 (1). 1971.A common complaint of biologists is that their subject receives poor treatment from philosophers—it gets but a fraction of the attention accorded to physics and chemistry, and what little it does receive, is usually of the type where ‘All swans are white’ is taken to be a paradigmatic example of the state of biological thinking. It cannot be denied that this complaint is, to a great extent, justified; however, there are some notable breaches in the wall of ignorance and silence, amongst which mu…Read more
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177Darwin'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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18The Structure of Biological Theories (review)International Studies in Philosophy 25 (1): 109-110. 1993.
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121Evolutionary theory and Christian ethics: Are they in harmony?Zygon 29 (1): 5-24. 1994.Does modern evolutionary theory (specifically Darwinism) pose a problem for the Christian's thinking about morality? It certainly poses threats for those who would argue that certain practices are wrong because they are “unnatural.” Liberal Christians can probably get around these questions. But at a deeper level, despite superficial similarities between its conclusions and the Love Commandment, Darwinism points to an essential relativism about morality, thereby striking at the very core of all …Read more
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19Biology 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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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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61Evolutionary Ethics: What Can We Learn From from the Past?Zygon 34 (3): 435-451. 1999.In this paper I look at the question of the derivation of ethics from evolutionary biology, and I do so by considering both historical attempts to make such a derivation and contemporary work.
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69Moral Philosophy as Applied ScienceIn E. Sober (ed.), Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Biology, The Mit Press. Bradford Books. pp. 61--421. 1994.
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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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30Evolutionary biology and teleological thinkingIn Andre 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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40A 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.
Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Religion |
Philosophy of Biology |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Religion |
Philosophy of Biology |