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Prediction in Selectionist Evolutionary Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Rasmus Gr⊘nfeldt Winther
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Abstract

Selectionist evolutionary theory has often been faulted for not making novel predictions that are surprising, risky, and correct. I argue that it in fact exhibits the theoretical virtue of predictive capacity in addition to two other virtues: explanatory unification and model fitting. Two case studies show the predictive capacity of selectionist evolutionary theory: parallel evolutionary change in E. coli and the origin of eukaryotic cells through endosymbiosis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 76 , Issue 5 , December 2009 , pp. 889 - 901
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

Many thanks to Fermín Fulda, Larry Laudan, and Elliot Sober for illuminating and detailed conversations that helped improve this article immensely. I am also grateful to John Beatty, Kirk Fitzhugh, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Deborah Mayo, Amir Najmi, Richard Otte, Sarah Richardson, and David Williams for helpful feedback.

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