Evolutionary Causation

Biological and Philosophical Reflections

Tobias Uller, Kevin N. Lala, Gerd B. Müller, Katrin Schäfer, Thomas Pradeu

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780262353205
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory
• Index: Biological Sciences

Most scientific explanations are causal. This is certainly the case in evolutionary biology, which seeks to explain the diversity of life and the adaptive fit between organisms and their surroundings. The nature of causation in evolutionary biology, however, is contentious. How causation is understood shapes the structure of evolutionary theory, and historical and contemporary debates in evolutionary biology have revolved around the nature of causation. Despite its centrality, and differing views on the subject, the major conceptual issues regarding the nature of causation in evolutionary biology are rarely addressed. This volume fills the gap, bringing together biologists and philosophers to offer a comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment of evolutionary causation.

Contributors first address biological motivations for rethinking evolutionary causation, considering the ways in which development, extra-genetic inheritance, and niche construction challenge notions of cause and process in evolution, and describing how alternative representations of evolutionary causation can shed light on a range of evolutionary problems. Contributors then analyze evolutionary causation from a philosophical perspective, considering such topics as causal entanglement, the commingling of organism and environment, and the relationship between causation and information.

Contributors
John A. Baker, Lynn Chiu, David I. Dayan, Renée A. Duckworth, Marcus W Feldman, Susan A. Foster, Melissa A. Graham, Heikki Helanterä, Kevin N. Laland, Armin P. Moczek, John Odling-Smee, Jun Otsuka, Massimo Pigliucci, Arnaud Pocheville, Arlin Stoltzfus, Karola Stotz, Sonia E. Sultan, Christoph Thies, Tobias Uller, Denis M. Walsh, Richard A. Watson

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Announcement Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Series Foreword
• 1. Evolutionary Causation
• 2. Causality and the Role of Philosophy of Science
• 3. Understanding Bias in the Introduction of Variation as an Evolutionary Cause
• 4. The Shape of Things to Come: Evo Devo Perspectives on Causes and Consequences in Evolution
• 5. Incorporating the Environmentally Sensitive Phenotype into Evolutionary Thinking
• 6. Genotype-Environment Interaction and the Unscripted Reaction Norm
• 7. Understanding Niche Construction as an Evolutionary Process
• 8. Biological Dynamics and Evolutionary Causation
• 9. The Causes of a Major Transition: How Social Insects Traverse Darwinian Space
• 10. Are Developmental Plasticity, Niche Construction, and Extended Inheritance Necessary for Evolution by Natural Selection? The Role of Active Phenotypes in the Minimal Criteria for Darwinian Individuality
• 11. The Paradox of Population Thinking: First Order Causes and Higher Order Effects
• 12. Ontology, Causality, and Methodology of Evolutionary Research Programs
• 13. A Darwinian Dream: On Time, Levels, and Processes in Evolution
• 14. Decoupling, Commingling, and the Evolutionary Significance of Experiential Niche Construction
• 15. Biological Information in Developmental and Evolutionary Systems
• Contributors
• Index