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Series:   Elements in the Philosophy of Biology

The Causal Structure of Natural Selection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2021

Charles H. Pence
Charles H. Pence
Affiliation:
Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

Summary

Recent arguments concerning the nature of causation in evolutionary theory, now often known as the debate between the 'causalist' and 'statisticalist' positions, have involved answers to a variety of independent questions – definitions of key evolutionary concepts like natural selection, fitness, and genetic drift; causation in multi-level systems; or the nature of evolutionary explanations, among others. This Element offers a way to disentangle one set of these questions surrounding the causal structure of natural selection. Doing so allows us to clearly reconstruct the approach that some of these major competing interpretations of evolutionary theory have to this causal structure, highlighting particular features of philosophical interest within each. Further, those features concern problems not exclusive to the philosophy of biology. Connections between them and, in two case studies, contemporary metaphysics and philosophy of physics demonstrate the potential value of broader collaboration in the understanding of evolution.
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Keywords

natural selectioncausationcausalist–statisticalist debateuniversalitymetaphysics of science
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in the Philosophy of Biology
Online ISBN: 9781108680691
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 04 November 2021

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The Causal Structure of Natural Selection
  • Charles H. Pence, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
  • Online ISBN: 9781108680691
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The Causal Structure of Natural Selection
  • Charles H. Pence, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
  • Online ISBN: 9781108680691
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

The Causal Structure of Natural Selection
  • Charles H. Pence, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
  • Online ISBN: 9781108680691
Available formats
×