A critique of R.d. Alexander's views on group selection
Biology and Philosophy 14 (3) (1999)
| Abstract | Group selection is increasingly being viewed as an important force in human evolution. This paper examines the views of R.D. Alexander, one of the most influential thinkers about human behavior from an evolutionary perspective, on the subject of group selection. Alexander's general conception of evolution is based on the gene-centered approach of G.C. Williams, but he has also emphasized a potential role for group selection in the evolution of individual genomes and in human evolution. Alexander's views are internally inconsistent and underestimate the importance of group selection. Specific themes that Alexander has developed in his account of human evolution are important but are best understood within the framework of multilevel selection theory. From this perspective, Alexander's views on moral systems are not the radical departure from conventional views that he claims, but remain radical in another way more compatible with conventional views. | |||||||||
| 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: 5,865 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesSamir Okasha (2005). Maynard Smith on the Levels of Selection Question. Biology and Philosophy 20 (5):989-1010.
Samir Okasha (2003). The Concept of Group Heritability. Biology and Philosophy 18 (3).
Samir Okasha (2001). Why Won't the Group Selection Controversy Go Away? British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52 (1):25-50.
Nicholas S. Thompson (2000). Shifting the Natural Selection Metaphor to the Group Level. Behavior and Philosophy 28 (1/2):83 - 101.
Elliott Sober & David Sloan Wilson (2000). Summary Of: ‘Unto Others. The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior'. Journal of Consciousness Studies 7 (1-2):185-206.
David Sloan Wilson & Elliott Sober (1998). Multilevel Selection and the Return of Group-Level Functionalism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (2):305-306.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads16 ( #75,663 of 556,803 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #64,847 of 556,803 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
