Thirty years of Biology &amp; Philosophy: philosophy of which biology?

Pradeu, Thomas

doi:10.1007/s10539-016-9558-7

Cited by 15 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Yet the most recent proposed ontologies of living things share with their predecessors a tendency to privilege evolutionary theory and genetics at the expense of other areas of biology. The bias is unsurprising, as those two fields are disproportionately the focus of philosophy of biology in general (Pradeu 2016). But, just as philosophers have tended to underestimate the diversity of the living world, they have tended to overlook certain areas of biology when considering ontological questions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stem Cell Lineages: Between Cell and Organism

Fagan¹

2017

Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stem Cell Lineages: Between Cell and Organism

Fagan¹

2017

Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology

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“…But what I hope this article has shown is that philosophers of biology would do well to keep up to date with this exciting new work in experimental biology, addressing old philosophical problems with exciting new experimental tools. In this, I can only echo a recent critique by Pradeu (2017):…”

Section: Conclusion and Further Avenues For Researchmentioning

confidence: 90%

Scaffolding Natural Selection

Veit

2021

Biol Theory

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Darwin provided us with a powerful theoretical framework to explain the evolution of living systems. Natural selection alone, however, has sometimes been seen as insufficient to explain the emergence of new levels of selection. The problem is one of "circularity" for evolutionary explanations: how to explain the origins of Darwinian properties without already invoking their presence at the level they emerge. That is, how does evolution by natural selection commence in the first place? Recent results in experimental evolution suggest a way forward: Paul Rainey and his collaborators have shown that Darwinian properties could be exogenously imposed via what they call "ecological scaffolding." This could solve the "black box" dilemma faced by Darwinian explanations of new levels of organization. Yet, despite "scaffolding" recently becoming a popular term in the study of cognition, culture, and evolution, the concept has suffered from vagueness and ambiguity. This article aims to show that scaffolding can be turned into a proper scientific concept able to do explanatory work within the context of the major evolutionary transitions. Doing so will allow us to once again extend the scope of the Darwinian model of evolution by natural selection.

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“…As was noted at the beginning of this chapter, the field of philosophy of biology is dominated by evolutionary issues. A significant illustration of this fact is that, from 2008 to 2012, 64% of the articles published in the journal Biology and Philosophy concerned evolution (Pradeu 2017). This focus on evolution is easy to understand, as evolution raises fundamental philosophical questions about the nature of species, the status of human beings in the living world, essentialism, individuality, etc.…”

Section: Philosophy Of Biology Beyond Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Philosophy of Science

2018

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Philosophy of science studies the methods, theories, and concepts used by scientists. It mainly developed as a field in its own right during the twentieth century and is now a diversified and lively research area. This book surveys the current state of the discipline by focusing on central themes such as confirmation of scientific hypotheses, scientific explanation, causality, the relationship between science and metaphysics, scientific change, the relationship between philosophy of science and science studies, the role of theories and models, and unity of science. These themes define general philosophy of science. The book also presents subdisciplines in the philosophy of science dealing with the main sciences: logic, mathematics, physics, biology, medicine, cognitive science, linguistics, social sciences, and economics. Although it is common to address the specific philosophical problems raised by physics and biology in such a book, the place assigned to the philosophy of special sciences is much more unusual. Most authors collaborate on a regular basis in their research or teaching and share a common vision of philosophy of science and its place within philosophy and academia in general. The chapters have been written in close accordance with the three editors, thus achieving strong unity of style and tone.

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Thirty years of Biology & Philosophy: philosophy of which biology?

Abstract: Which domains of biology do philosophers of biology primarily study? The fact that philosophy of biology has been dominated by an interest for evolutionary biology is widely admitted, but it has not been strictly demonstrated. Here

Cited by 15 publications

References 74 publications

Stem Cell Lineages: Between Cell and Organism

Stem Cell Lineages: Between Cell and Organism

Scaffolding Natural Selection

The Philosophy of Science

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