2002
DOI: 10.1086/342454
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The Trials of Life: Natural Selection and Random Drift

Abstract: We distinguish dynamical and statistical interpretations of evolutionary theory. We argue that only the statistical interpretation preserves the presumed relation between natural selection and drift. On these grounds we claim that the dynamical conception of evolutionary theory as a theory of forces is mistaken. Selection and drift are not forces. Nor do selection and drift explanations appeal to the (sub-population-level) causes of population level change. Instead they explain by appeal to the statistical str… Show more

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Cited by 193 publications
(123 citation statements)
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“…The "statistical" as opposed to the "dynamic" interpretation of evolutionary theory (fn. 6), which Walsh et al (2002) forcefully defend, supports the present view. As for Neander's suggestions, she appeals crucially to the cumulativity of the adaptive process, in which some earlier preservations and proliferations of some co-adapted sequence of genes changes the probability of what subsequent variations will arise.…”
Section: The Darwin-spencer Dividesupporting
confidence: 87%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…The "statistical" as opposed to the "dynamic" interpretation of evolutionary theory (fn. 6), which Walsh et al (2002) forcefully defend, supports the present view. As for Neander's suggestions, she appeals crucially to the cumulativity of the adaptive process, in which some earlier preservations and proliferations of some co-adapted sequence of genes changes the probability of what subsequent variations will arise.…”
Section: The Darwin-spencer Dividesupporting
confidence: 87%
“…6 On the so-called "statistical" interpretation of evolutionary theory, it is a theory about the structure of populations only, not a theory of "forces" acting on individual organisms (and hence not a theory about any "creative" forces). Walsh et al (2002) compare natural selection to a sorting process of biased coins, as a consequence of which the frequency of the heads-to-tails changes over a sequence of trials (the bias of each individual coin corresponds to the fitness of individual organisms). The systematic bias explains the sorting outcome, but the bias is not the property of any individual coin, being a mean.…”
Section: The Darwin-spencer Dividementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Nonetheless, in 'denying that process causation occurs at this level' (Matthen and Ariew [2002], p. 82), Matthen and Ariew seem to be embracing a concept of process causation that is 'strictly law governed,' and admits of no 'discontinuities' or 'reversals' ([2002], p. 79). (See Stephens [2004] for a critique of this Similarly, Walsh, Lewens, and Ariew ([2002], p. 453) assert, 'Selection and drift are not forces acting on populations; they are statistical properties of an assemblage of "trial" events: births, deaths and reproduction.' I understand both of these papers to be claiming that natural selection is purely statistical; natural selection, on their view, is a mere statistical summary of lower-level causes, but it is not itself a cause or a causal process.…”
Section: The Montane Willow Leaf Beetle: a Causal Storymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Some authors argue that natural selection is nothing but a population-level, statistical consequence of lowerlevel events (Matthen and Ariew [2002]; Walsh, Lewens, and Ariew [2002]). On this view, natural selection itself does not involve forces.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This is yet another place where the PIF has gone astray. It is rather the predictive fitness (and, in particular, the predictive fitness of traits and not of individual organisms) that is the appropriate target for biological study (Walsh, Lewens, and Ariew 2002;Walsh 2003Walsh , 2004Walsh , 2007.…”
Section: Responses Abandoning the Pifmentioning
confidence: 99%