Reciprocal Causation and the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis

Biological Theory 14 (4):267-279 (2019)
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Abstract

Kevin Laland and colleagues have put forward a number of arguments motivating an extended evolutionary synthesis. Here I examine Laland et al.'s central concept of reciprocal causation. Reciprocal causation features in many arguments supporting an expanded evolutionary framework, yet few of these arguments are clearly delineated. Here I clarify the concept and make explicit three arguments in which it features. I identify where skeptics can—and are—pushing back against these arguments, and highlight what I see as the empirical, explanatory, and methodological issues at stake.

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Andrew Buskell
Georgia Institute of Technology

References found in this work

Complexity and the Function of Mind in Nature.Peter Godfrey-Smith (ed.) - 1996 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
The dialectical biologist.Richard Levins - 1985 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Edited by Richard C. Lewontin.

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