Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T14:27:09.406Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Simple Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Robert N. Brandon
Robert N. Brandon*
Affiliation:
Departments of Philosophy and Zoology, Duke University
*
†Send reprint requests to the author, Department of Philosophy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Kary (1990) defends the view that evolution by natural selection can be adequately explained in terms of a theory incorporating only a single level of selection. Here I point out some of the inherent inadequacies of such a theory.

Type
Discussion
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , June 1992 , pp. 276 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brandon, R. N. (1982), “The Levels of Selection”, in Asquith, P. and Nickles, T. (eds.), PSA 1982, vol. 1. East Lansing: Philosophy of Science Association, pp. 315–323.Google Scholar
Brandon, R. N. (1985), “Adaptation Explanations: Are Adaptations for the Good of Replicators or Interactors?”, in Weber, B. and Depew, D. (eds.), Evolution at a Crossroads: The New Biology and the New Philosophy of Science. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, pp. 81–96.Google Scholar
Brandon, R. N. (1988), “The Levels of Selection: A Hierarchy of Interactors”, in Plotkin, H. (ed.), The Role of Behavior in Evolution. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 51–71.Google Scholar
Brandon, R. N. (1990), Adaptation and Environment. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1976), The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1982), The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as the Unit of Selection. Oxford: Freeman.Google Scholar
Falconer, D. S. (1981), Introduction to Quantitative Genetics. 2d ed. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Hull, D. (1980), “Individuality and Selection”, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11: 311–332.10.1146/annurev.es.11.110180.001523CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. (1981), “Units of Evolution: A Metaphysical Essay”, in Jensen, U. L. and Harré, R. (eds.), The Philosophy of Evolution. Brighton, England: Harvester Press, pp. 000–000.Google Scholar
Kary, C. E. (1990), “One Causal Mechanism in Evolution: One Unit of Selection”, Philosophy of Science 57: 290–296.10.1086/289549CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewontin, R. C. (1974), The Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, S. D. (1987), “Competing Units of Selection?: A Case of Symbiosis”, Philosophy of Science 54: 351–367.10.1086/289388CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nijhout, H. F. (1990), “Metaphors and the Role of Genes in Development”, BioEssays 12: 1–6.10.1002/bies.950120908CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sultan, S. E. (1987), “Evolutionary Implications of Phenotypic Plasticity in Plants”, in Hecht, M. K., Wallace, B. and Prance, G. T. (eds.), Evolutionary Biology, vol. 21. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 127–178.10.1007/978-1-4615-6986-2_7CrossRefGoogle Scholar