Rice University
Department of Philosophy
PhD, 1987
San Antonio, Texas, United States of America
  •  437
    Marketing and logical deduction
    with M. R. Hyman
    Journal of Marketing 89--92. forthcoming.
  •  300
    Thinking about evolutionary mechanisms: Natural selection
    with Roberta Millstein
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 36 (2): 327-347. 2004.
    This paper explores whether natural selection, a putative evolutionary mechanism, and a main one at that, can be characterized on either of the two dominant conceptions of mechanism, due to Glennan and the team of Machamer, Darden, and Craver, that constitute the “new mechanistic philosophy.” The results of the analysis are that neither of the dominant conceptions of mechanism adequately captures natural selection. Nevertheless, the new mechanistic philosophy possesses the resources for an under…Read more
  •  273
    Selection and the extent of explanatory unification
    Philosophy of Science 66 (3): 209. 1999.
    According to Philip Kitcher, scientific unification is achieved via the derivation of numerous scientific statements from economies of argument schemata. I demonstrate that the unification of selection phenomena across domains in which it is claimed to occur--evolutionary biology, immunology and, speculatively, neurobiology--is unattainable on Kitcher's view. I then introduce an alternative method for rendering the desired unification based on the concept of a mechanism schema. I conclude that t…Read more
  •  125
    The persistence of the R.A. Fisher-Sewall Wright controversy
    Biology and Philosophy 17 (3): 341-367. 2002.
    This paper considers recent heated debates led by Jerry A. Coyne andMichael J. Wade on issues stemming from the 1929–1962 R.A. Fisher-Sewall Wrightcontroversy in population genetics. William B. Provine once remarked that theFisher-Wright controversy is central, fundamental, and very influential.Indeed,it is also persistent. The argumentative structure of therecent (1997–2000) debates is analyzed with the aim of eliminating a logicalconflict in them, viz., that the two sides in the debates havedi…Read more
  •  120
    Stochastic evolutionary dynamics: Drift versus draft
    Philosophy of Science 73 (5): 655-665. 2006.
    In a small handful of papers in theoretical population genetics, John Gillespie (2000a, 2000b, 2001) argues that a new stochastic process he calls "genetic draft" is evolutionarily more significant than genetic drift. This case study of chance in evolution explores Gillespie's proposed stochastic evolutionary force and sketches the implications of Gillespie's argument for philosophers' explorations of genetic drift.
  •  111
    (Mis)interpreting Mathematical Models: Drift as a Physical Process
    Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 1 (20130604). 2009.
    Recently, a number of philosophers of biology have endorsed views about random drift that, we will argue, rest on an implicit assumption that the meaning of concepts such as drift can be understood through an examination of the mathematical models in which drift appears. They also seem to implicitly assume that ontological questions about the causality of terms appearing in the models can be gleaned from the models alone. We will question these general assumptions by showing how the same equatio…Read more
  •  101
    Mill and pornography
    Ethics 103 (4): 726-730. 1993.
  •  74
    The Heuristic Role of Sewall Wright’s 1932 Adaptive Landscape Diagram
    Philosophy of Science 71 (5): 1176-1188. 2004.
    Sewall Wright's adaptive landscape is the most influential heuristic in evolutionary biology. Wright's biographer, Provine, criticized Wright's adaptive landscape, claiming that its heuristic value is dubious because of deep flaws. Ruse has defended Wright against Provine. Ruse claims Provine has not shown Wright's use of the landscape is flawed, and that, even if it were, it is heuristically valuable. I argue that both Provine's and Ruse's analyses of the adaptive landscape are defective and su…Read more
  •  72
    Calibration of laboratory models in population genetics
    Perspectives on Science 12 (4): 369-393. 2004.
    : This paper explores the calibration of laboratory models in population genetics as an experimental strategy for justifying experimental results and claims based upon them following Franklin (1986, 1990) and Rudge (1996, 1998). The analysis provided undermines Coyne et al.'s (1997) critique of Wade and Goodnight's (1991) experimental study of Wright's (1931, 1932) Shifting Balance Theory. The essay concludes by further demonstrating how this analysis bears on Diamond's (1986) claims regarding t…Read more
  •  72
    : Where there are cases of underdetermination in scientific controversies, such as the case of the molecular clock, scientists may direct the course and terms of dispute by playing off the multidimensional framework of theory evaluation. This is because assessment strategies themselves are underdetermined. Within the framework of assessment, there are a variety of trade-offs between different strategies as well as shifting emphases as specific strategies are given more or less weight in assessme…Read more
  •  72
    Perspectives on the animal mind
    Biology and Philosophy 19 (4): 483-487. 2004.
    Charles Darwin was one of the first to propose a unified framework with which to understand human and animal behavior. The foundation of Darwin’s framework is his theory of descent with modification. What Darwin was convinced that theory allowed him to say about human and animal behavior is exemplified in the ‘continuity thesis.’ As Darwin put it, ‘there is a much wider interval in mental power between one of the lowest fishes, as a lamprey or lancelet, and one of the higher apes, than between an ape…Read more
  •  48
    On foundations research in the social sciences
    with Michael R. Hyman
    International Journal of Applied Philosophy 10 (1): 23--38. 1995.
  •  48
    Objects in Space As Metaphor for the Internet
    Philosophy in the Contemporary World 9 (1): 83-88. 2002.
    Despite the apparent aptness of the spatial model for Internet concepts, I will try to show that the paradigm is in fact very misleading and unnatural First, I argue that Cyberspace lacks the central features that constitute a space. Then I show that the metaphor creates a poor conceptual model that yields false or misleading conclusions about how Cyberspace functions.
  •  48
    Aliteracy in the Philosophy Classroom
    Teaching Philosophy 28 (3): 261-276. 2005.
    For whatever reasons, students seem more resistant than ever before to reading. Educators have catered to this trend, introducing learning activities other than reading. I argue that, in philosophy at least, nothing can substitute for reading and discussion. I further argue that the best readings are famous, intellectually challenging, and substantial enough to reward the student with a memorable philosophical experience. I have noticed that students appreciate meaty, classical, philosophical wo…Read more
  •  47
    The causal crux of selection
    Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24 (3): 556-556. 2001.
    Hull et al. make a direct connection between selection and replication. My view is that selection, at its causal crux, is not inherently connected to replication. I make plain the causal crux of selection, distinguishing it from replication. I discuss implications of my results for Hull et al.'s critique of Darden and Cain (1989).
  •  45
    On measuring ethical judgments
    Journal of Business Ethics 12 (7). 1993.
    We critique a series of recent papers in which Reidenbach and Robin developed a multidimensional ethics scale. Our critique raises four problems for the scale. First, it is not clear what the scale measures. Second, the semantic differential items used in the scale seem problematic. Third, the scale omits several important ethical rationales. Finally, no caveats accompany the scale to alert managers about its proper and improper use.
  •  45
    The Blog-Assisted Seminar
    Teaching Philosophy 34 (2): 119-132. 2011.
    Four years ago, I tried assigning blogs as homework to ensure that students came to class prepared for seminar discussions. From the start, it was clear that blogging was having a good effect, but I needed to make many refinements before I was satisfied that I was squeezing the greatest benefit from this device. In this paper, I summarize and explain the fully developed method on which I eventually settled. I first explain what I’m hoping will happen to students over the semester. Then, I list s…Read more
  •  22
    Advertising: Questioning Common Complaints
    Business Ethics: A European Review 2 (2): 87-93. 1993.
    ’For each case against advertising, there is a stronger offsetting argument.’Dr Hyman is Visiting Professor of Marketing at Limburg University, Holland, and guest editor of a forth coming special issue of The Journal of Advertising on advertising ethics. Dr Skipper is Instructor of Philosophy at Southwest Texas State University.
  •  21
    Advertising: Questioning common complaints
    Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility 2 (2). 1993.
    ’For each case against advertising, there is a stronger offsetting argument.’Dr Hyman is Visiting Professor of Marketing at Limburg University, Holland, and guest editor of a forth coming special issue of The Journal of Advertising on advertising ethics. Dr Skipper is Instructor of Philosophy at Southwest Texas State University.
  •  19
    What Good Is Ancient Philosophy?
    Philosophy and Literature 43 (2): 535-542. 2019.
    What of value can we philosophers of the contemporary world possibly learn from studying ancient philosophy? Of course, we often lecture about ancient writings in our classes. The Greeks blazed many trails through an uncharted philosophical wilderness, and their first steps still guide the first steps of today’s tenderfoot thinkers. What better guide than Socrates to conduct our students through the brambles of definition? What better companion than Aristotle to help those considering virtues an…Read more
  •  14
    Education and Bureaucracy
    International Journal of Applied Philosophy 32 (1): 57-76. 2018.
    I argue that bureaucracies, as described by Max Weber, have essential characteristics that clash with basic educational values. On the one hand, bureaucracies, because of their divisions of labor, inevitably narrow all those who participate. Bureaucracies also, because of the need for impartiality, inevitably dehumanize all who participate. On the other hand, education aims to broaden and humanize those who participate in it. This tension between bureaucracy and education makes bureaucracy an un…Read more
  • The evolution of applied marketing theory as evinced by textbook definitions
    with M. R. Hyman and R. Tansey
    Ama Winter Educators’ Conference Proceedings. Chicago, Il 328--338. forthcoming.
  • Ethical codes are not enough
    with M. R. Hyman and R. Tansey
    Business Horizons 33 (2): 15--22. 1990.
  • Evaluating and improving argument-centered works in marketing
    with M. R. Hyman
    Journal of Marketing 60--75. forthcoming.
  • A Causal Theory of 'About'
    Dissertation, Rice University. 1987.
    Whenever we make a claim about a fictional entity, we seem to embroil ourselves in familiar problems of reference. This appearance is misleading, because what a sentence is about bears a greater resemblance to a Fregean sense than to a reference. All previous attempts to define 'about' consist of two approaches: "metalinguistic" theories of 'about', proposed by Ryle and Carnap, which fail to counterexamples wherein transparent contexts generate paradoxical consequences; and "semantic" theories o…Read more
  • Two challenges for the three dichotomies model
    with M. R. Hyman and R. Tansey
    Ama Winter Educators’ Conference Proceedings. Chicago, Il 417--422. forthcoming.