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Sarkar on Frank

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

David Robert Crawford
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Abstract

In a recent paper, Sahotra Sarkar compares the Standard Dynamical interpretation of natural selection with the Information-Theoretic interpretation from Steven A. Frank. I address Sarkar’s three arguments against Frank’s interpretation. I show that Sarkar’s major argument that a key component of Frank’s account “does not have any natural biological interpretation” is premised on a contradiction stemming from a mathematical error. Consequently, Sarkar’s major argument is unsound. I also address Sarkar’s claim that a central equation in Frank’s interpretation is dynamically insufficient and his claim that Frank’s interpretation uses nonintuitive parameters to simply rewrite familiar results.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 82 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 122 - 128
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

Thanks to Samir Okasha and two anonymous referees for helpful discussion and comments. This work was supported by the European Research Council Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013), ERC grant 295449.

References

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