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Ambiguities and Pragmatic Factors in the Units of Selection Controversy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

John Cassidy
John Cassidy*
Affiliation:
University of Virginia School of Law
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Abstract

The question “what is (are) the unit(s) of selection” can be interpreted in three different ways. These interpretations are discussed and it is shown that they prompt different answers; such units are shown to be individuals in the context of the given interpretation. One of these interpretations is argued, by examples, not always to have an unambiguously correct answer. An alternative approach to this question is sketched.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , March 1981 , pp. 95 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

I am indebted to David Hull for a copy of his (1978).

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