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List of contents
1. Why should biologists care about philosophy of science? Tobias Uller and Kostas Kampourakis; 2. What constitutes an explanation in biology? Angela Potochnik; 3. What is biological knowledge? Kevin McCain; 4. What is the nature of theories and models in biology? Emily Parke and Anya Plutynski; 5. How are biology concepts used and transformed? Ingo Brigandt; 6. Why does it matter that many biology concepts are metaphors? Kostas Kampourakis; 7. How do concepts contribute to scientific advancement? Evolutionary biology as a case study David Depew; 8. How can conceptual analysis contribute to scientific practice? The case of cultural evolution Tim Lewens; 9. What methods do life scientists use? A brief history with philosophical implications Erik L. Peterson; 10. Is it possible to scientifically reconstruct the history of life on earth? The biological sciences and deep time Carol Cleland; 11. What is the basis of biological classification? The search for natural systems Thomas Reydon; 12. What is the nature of scientific controversies in the biological sciences? Michael R. Dietrich; 13. What is the relation between facts and values in biological science? Biology in society Carrie Friese and Barbara Prainsack; 14. A philosopher in the age of creationism: What have I learned after fifty years doing philosophy of biology that I want to pass on to biologists Michael Ruse; 15. How can we teach philosophy of science to biologists? Kostas Kampourakis and Tobias Uller.
About the author
Kostas Kampourakis is the author and editor of books about evolution, genetics, philosophy, and history of science, and the editor of the Cambridge book series Understanding Life. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of the journal Science & Education, and the book series Science: Philosophy, History and Education. He is currently a researcher at the University of Geneva, where he also teaches at the Section of Biology and the University Institute for Teacher Education (http://kampourakis.com).Tobias Uller is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Lund University, Sweden. He works on the relationships between development, heredity and evolution, using an integrative approach guided by mathematical modelling and conceptual analysis. He has held fellowships in the UK, the USA, and Sweden, and was the 2018 recipient of the Tage Erlander Prize, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Science for research in Natural Sciences and Technology.
Summary
Written for students and researchers in the life sciences, this is the first book to provide an accessible introduction to philosophy of science with a focus on biology. It draws on contemporary examples to enable biologists to become more philosophically minded and informed, facilitating all aspects of research and communication.
