Biology and Philosophy 14 (4):481-504 (1999)
Abstract |
Karl Popper has been one of the few philosophers of sciences who has influenced scientists. I evaluate Popper's influence on our understanding of evolutionary theory from his earliest publications to the present. Popper concluded that three sorts of statements in evolutionary biology are not genuine laws of nature. I take him to be right on this score. Popper's later distinction between evolutionary theory as a metaphysical research program and as a scientific theory led more than one scientist to misunderstand his position on evolutionary theory as a scientific theory. In his later work Popper also introduced what he took to be improvements of evolutionary theory. Thus far these improvements have had almost no influence on evolutionary biology. I conclude by examining the influence of Popper on the reception of cladistic analysis.
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Keywords | cladistics evolutionary theory Lamarckism metaphysical research programs operationalism Popper stage laws tautology testability |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2004 |
DOI | 10.1023/A:1006554919188 |
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References found in this work BETA
A Radical Solution to the Species Problem.Michael T. Ghiselin - 1974 - Systematic Zoology 23:536-44.
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Citations of this work BETA
Essentialism, History, and Biological Taxa.Makmiller Pedroso - 2012 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 43 (1):182-190.
The Professionalization of Science Studies: Cutting Some Slack. [REVIEW]David L. Hull - 2000 - Biology and Philosophy 15 (1):61-91.
Evolutionary Theory and the Epistemology of Science.Kevin McCain & Brad Weslake - 2013 - In Kostas Kampourakis (ed.), The Philosophy of Biology: A Companion for Educators. Springer. pp. 101-119.
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