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Natural Selection as a Mechanism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

D. Benjamin Barros
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Abstract

Skipper and Millstein (2005) argued that existing conceptions of mechanisms failed to “get at” natural selection but left open the possibility that a refined conception of mechanisms could resolve the problems that they identified. I respond to Skipper and Millstein, and argue that while many of their points have merit, their objections can be overcome and that natural selection can be characterized as a mechanism. In making this argument, I discuss the role of regularity in mechanisms, and develop an account of stochastic (i.e., probabilistic) mechanisms. Explaining the phenomenon of adaptation through the mechanism of natural selection illustrates the power and flexibility of using mechanistic strategies to explain natural phenomena.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , July 2008 , pp. 306 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

Thanks to Lindley Darden for feedback and encouragement.

References

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