In Defence of Selfish Genes
Philosophy 56 (218):556- (1981)
| Abstract | I have been taken aback by the inexplicable hostility of Mary MidgleyÂ’s assault.[1] Some colleagues have advised me that such transparent spite is best ignored, but others warn that the venomous tone of her article may conceal the errors in its content. Indeed, we are in danger of assuming that nobody would dare to be so rude without taking the elementary precaution of being right in what she said. We may even bend over backwards to concede some of her points, simply in order to appear fair-minded when we deplore the way she made them. I deplore bad manners as strongly as anyone, but more importantly I shall show that Midgley has no good point to make. She seems not to understand biology or the way biologists use language. No doubt my ignorance would be just as obvious if I rushed headlong into her field of expertise, but I would then adopt a more diffident tone. As it is we are both in my corner, and it is hard for me not to regard the gloves as off. I will try to make my reply constructive, in the hope that it may interest those who have not read MidgleyÂ’s article, as well as those who have. Unattributed quotations with page numbers will all be taken from her article. Since it was my book, The Selfish Gene (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976), which stimulated her attack, it will also be necessary for me to quote from it. I shall divide my reply into eight sections | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,701 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesJames Miles (1998). Unnatural Selection. Philosophy 73 (4):593-608.
Janna L. Thompson (1984). Mutual Aid and Selfish Genes. Metaphilosophy 15 (3-4):270-281.
David Brog (2010). In Defense of Faith: The Judeo-Christian Idea and the Struggle for Humanity. Encounter Books.
Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca (2008). A Preference for Selfish Preferences: The Problem of Motivations in Rational Choice Political Science. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 38 (3):361-378.
Steven P. R. Rose (1998). Lifelines: Biology Beyond Determinism. Oxford University Press.
Mary Midgley (1979). Gene-Juggling. Philosophy 54 (210):439-.
Mary Midgley (1983). Selfish Genes and Social Darwinism. Philosophy 58 (225):365-.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-08-10Total downloads9 ( #114,124 of 549,122 )Recent downloads (6 months)2 ( #37,390 of 549,122 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
