Philosophy of Evolutionary Theory - Concepts, Inferences, and Probabilities

"Fitness, natural selection, common ancestry, mutation, chance, taxonomy, and adaptation are central concepts in Darwin's theory of evolution, and in the 20th and 21st century theories that grew out of it. This book uses ideas about probability to discuss philosophical questions that these concepts raise"--

List of contents

1. A Darwinian introduction; 2. Fitness and natural selection; 3. Units of selection; 4. Common ancestry; 5. Drift; 6. Mutation; 7. Taxa and genealogy; 8. Adaptationism; 9. Big-picture questions.

About the author

Elliott Sober is Hans Reichenbach Professor Emeritus, and William F. Vilas Research Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His previous publications include Ockham's Razors: A User's Manual (Cambridge, 2015) and The Design Argument (Cambridge, 2018).

Summary

Fitness, natural selection, common ancestry, mutation, chance, taxonomy, and adaptation are central concepts in Darwin's theory of evolution, and in the 20th and 21st century theories that grew out of it. This book uses ideas about probability to discuss philosophical questions that these concepts raise.

Foreword

A philosophical analysis of concepts and arguments used by Darwin and in contemporary evolutionary biology, sometimes using probability theory as a tool.

Product details

• Authors: Elliott Sober, Elliott (University of Wisconsin Sober, Sober Elliott
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.03.2024
• EAN: 9781009376013
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0937601-3
• No. of pages: 308
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); History of Ideas, Philosophy, SCIENCE / Philosophy & Social Aspects, Philosophy of Science, Early Man, Western philosophy from c 1800, Evolutionary anthropology / Human evolution, Academic style, Academism, Academicism