View year:

  1.  4
    Infinite Population Models and Random Drift.Marshall Abrams - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (3).
    Philosophers of science sometimes seem to imply that there are evolutionary models in which a counterfactual infinite population of organisms plays a crucial role. As is sometimes noted, this idea is incoherent if “infinite population” is understood literally. This paper uses case studies of modeling in evolutionary biology to examine roles that “infinite population”, and assumptions about random drift, play in modeling practices. Sometimes various effects of the absence of drift are understood as having to do with limits as population (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  2.  8
    Independence and the Levels of Selection.Pierrick Bourrat - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (3).
    The idea that selection can go in opposite directions or, more generally, be independent at different levels is well entrenched in both the biological and philosophical literatures. However, this idea is difficult to render precise. On the face of it, it seems unclear how two levels of selection could conflict with one another – and thus be independent if they ultimately refer to the same Darwinian substrate. In this paper, I present an analysis of this problem. I argue that it (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  3. The Scope of Reciprocal Causation.Yasmin Haddad - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (3).
    The role of reciprocal causation in Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) is controversial. Proponents of EES argue that reciprocal causation is a key innovation, underpinning the necessity of EES. Conversely, critics of the EES maintain that Standard Evolutionary Theory (SET) adequately encompasses the concept of reciprocal causation, challenging the need for EES. This skepticism is rooted in two primary critiques. First, the mischaracterization of causal dynamics within SET by EES advocates leads to a misrepresentation of SET. Second, the oversight of how (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  4.  2
    Intracellular Molecular Pathways and the Biosystems that Arise from Them: An Ontological Investigation.Ross Stein - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (3).
    The cell’s ability to metabolize foodstuffs, synthesize proteins and nucleic acids, and transduce extracellular signals, all rely on an intricate intracellular network of biological systems. These biosystems are the dynamic manifestations of the molecular pathways that define them and arise when these molecular pathways are activated. In this paper, I ask if the transformation from pathway to biosystem (abbr., bioSip, for intracellular pathway biosystem) is accompanied by a change in ontological status, and if so, what this new status is. After (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  5.  9
    Fossils, Modality & Central Subjects in Palaeobiological Reconstruction.Adrian Currie - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (2).
    Paleobiology is not only a science of the deep past: it is a science of deep possibility. Drawing on recent speculative reconstructions of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, I sketch a new account of paleobiological reconstruction. Fossils, as opposed to testing causal hypotheses, are used to characterise and evidence the ‘central subjects’ of paleobiological reconstruction, in this instance, particular dinosaur taxa. These central subjects are then situated in various ‘profiles’, representational tools which isolate particular traits across several dimensions in order to apply comparative (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  6.  5
    Quo Vadis, Paleontology?Douglas Erwin - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (2).
    Studies of the history of life provide an interesting case study of how the questions scientists can ask, and from which they expect reliable answers, change over time. Some of these changes reflect the introduction of new technology or methodological advances in other fields that open new opportunities; other changes reflect an evolving perspective on what constitutes important research questions or the integration of multiple streams of information. In this contribution, I consider the changing nature of questions in paleontology, largely (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  7.  2
    Introduction to Symposium on Fossil-Driven Science.Meghan Page - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (2).
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  8.  7
    When are Fossils Data?Aja Watkins - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (2).
    Existing accounts of data are unclear about whether the epistemic role objects play makes them data, or whether data have to be produced by human interaction with the world – these two features can come apart. I illustrate this ambiguity using the case of fossil data, which have rich histories and undergo many processes before they are encountered by humans. I then outline several philosophical positions that would resolve the ambiguity moving forward, and elaborate on my preferred option.
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  9.  6
    Timing Science: The Temporal Role of Scientists in the Construction of Data.Caitlin Donahue Wylie - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (2).
    The processes of producing scientific knowledge rely on the temporality of data, yet they also obscure this relationship. Scientists hope that knowledge claims can stand relatively independent from their context of production. Instead, a more realistic and trustworthy view would be to embrace data’s history and “journey” (Leonelli and Tempini 2020) as a component of the knowledge claims that these data inspire. These journeys describe how data and people interact and thereby influence each other’s identity and epistemic worth. In this (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  10.  5
    Review of Mutation, Randomness, and Evolution, by Arlin Stoltzfus. [REVIEW]Michael R. Dietrich - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (1).
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  11.  2
    Biological Individuality Is Not Necessarily an Intrinsic Property.Cristóbal Unwin Holzapfel - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (1).
    A significant and longstanding debate in philosophy of biology has centered around biological individuality. Although there have been numerous attempts to articulate a plausible and unifying view of what makes something a biological individual, the results are often conflicting and non-coextensive. In spite of these disputes, an open consensus around a few general ideas has surfaced (Pradeu 2016a). One common assumption that has been carried over with the consensus is that biological individuality is an intrinsic property of biological entities (Clarke (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  12.  6
    Relative Frequency Controversies and the Growth of Biological Knowledge.Aaron Novick & Karen Kovaka - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (1).
    Relative frequency controversies, so common in the biological sciences, pose something of a puzzle. Why do biologists routinely engage in disputes that (a) are rarely settled and (b) arguably wouldn’t yield interesting knowledge even if they were? Recent work suggests that relative frequency controversies can lead biologists to increase their understanding of the modal profile of the processes under dispute. Here, we consider some further consequences of this view. We contend that relative frequency controversies can generate recurrent, transient underdetermination about (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  13.  4
    Towards a More General Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection: A Manifesto.François Papale & W. Ford Doolittle - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (1).
    In this manifesto for a more comprehensive account of evolution by natural selection (ENS), we draw on Hull’s framework to expand the reach of Darwinian explanations. His approach is centered on the notions of interactor and replicator. He (and many others following him) defines the interactor in terms of cohesiveness. Often, such cohesiveness is cashed out by the vertical transmission to the next generation of the replicators that constitute the interactors. While we maintain the importance of the reciprocal influence of (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  14. Data Synthesis for Big Questions: From Animal Tracks to Ecological Models.Rose Trappes - 2024 - Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 16 (1):4.
    This paper addresses a relatively new mode of ecological research: data synthesis studies. Data synthesis studies involve reusing data to create a general model as well as a reusable, aggregated dataset. Using a case from movement ecology, I analyse the trade-offs and strategies involved in data synthesis. Like theoretical ecological modelling, I find that synthesis studies involve a modelling trade-off between generality, precision and realism; they deal with this trade-off by adopting a pragmatic kludging strategy. I also identify an additional (...)
    Direct download (2 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
 Previous issues
  
Next issues