Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-23T04:10:56.340Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Newtonian Forces and Evolutionary Biology: A Problem and Solution for Extending the Force Interpretation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Joshua Filler
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There has recently been a renewed interest in the “force” interpretation of evolutionary biology. In this article, I present the general structure of the arguments for the force interpretation and identify a problem in its overly permissive conditions for being a Newtonian force. I then attempt a solution that (1) helps to illuminate the difference between forces and other types of causes and (2) makes room for random genetic drift as a force. In particular, I argue that forces are not different in kind from other types of causes but rather that forces are situated on a continuum of causes distinguished by their unifying power.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 76 , Issue 5 , December 2009 , pp. 774 - 783
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

‡

Thanks to Malcolm Forster, Daniel Hausman, Elliott Sober, Joel Velasco, and the audience at the 2008 PSA meeting for helpful comments and criticisms.

References

Bigelow, John, Ellis, Brian, and Pargetter, Robert (1988), “Forces”, Forces 55:614–630.Google Scholar
Bouchard, F., and Rosenberg, A. (2004), “Fitness, Probability, and the Principle of Natural Selection”, Fitness, Probability, and the Principle of Natural Selection 55:693–712.Google Scholar
Brandon, Robert (2006), “The Principle of Drift: Biology's First Law”, The Principle of Drift: Biology's First Law 103:319–335.Google Scholar
Hodge, M. J. S. (1987), “Natural Selection as a Causal, Empirical and Probabilistic Theory”, in Kruger, L., Gigerenzer, G., and Morgan, M. (eds.), The Probabilistic Revolution, Vol. 2. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 233–270.Google Scholar
Margenau, Henry (1950), The Nature of Physical Reality: A Philosophy of Modern Physics. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Matthen, Mohan, and Ariew, Andre (2002), “Two Ways of Thinking about Fitness and Natural Selection”, Two Ways of Thinking about Fitness and Natural Selection 119:55–83.Google Scholar
Millstein, Roberta (2006), “Natural Selection as a Population-Level Causal Process”, Natural Selection as a Population-Level Causal Process 57:627–653.Google Scholar
Newton, Isaac ([1704] 1952), Opticks; or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light. New York: Dover.Google Scholar
Reisman, Kenneth, and Forber, Patrick (2004), “Manipulation and the Causes of Evolution”, Manipulation and the Causes of Evolution 72:1113–1123.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Larry, and Sober, Elliott (2007), “Epiphenomenalism: The Do's and Don’ts”, in Machamer, P. and Wolters, G. (eds.), Thinking about Causes: From Greek Philosophy to Modern Physics. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 235–264.Google Scholar
Sober, Elliott (1984), The Nature of Selection: Evolutionary Theory in Philosophical Focus. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Stephens, Christopher (2004), “Selection, Drift, and the ‘Forces’ of Evolution”, Selection, Drift, and the ‘Forces’ of Evolution 71:550–570.Google Scholar
Walsh, D. (2000), “Chasing Shadows—Natural Selection and Adaptation”, Chasing Shadows—Natural Selection and Adaptation 31:135–153.Google Scholar
Walsh, Denis, Lewens, Tim, and Ariew, Andre (2002), “The Trials of Life—Natural Selection and Random Drift”, The Trials of Life—Natural Selection and Random Drift 69:452–473.Google Scholar
Wilson, Jessica (2006), “Force (Addendum)”, in Borchert, Donald M. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2nd ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference, 690–692.Google Scholar
Wilson, Jessica (2007). “Newtonian Forces”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 58:173–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar