Adaptationism and Optimality (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521598362 ISBN 13: 9780521598361

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2001

Synopsis

The theory of adaptationism argues that natural selection contains sufficient explanatory power in itself to account for all evolution. However, there are differing views about the efficiency, or optimality, of the adaptation model of explanation. If the adaptationism theory is applied, are energy and resources being used as optimally as possible? Adaptationism and Optimality combines contributions from biologists and philosophers, and offers a systematic treatment of foundational, conceptual, and methodological issues surrounding the theory of adaptationism.

About this title

About the Author

Elliott Sober is Hans Reichenbach Professor of Philosophy and William F. Vilas Research Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison where he has taught since 1974. His research is in philosophy of science, especially in the philosophy of evolutionary biology. Sober's books include The Nature of Selection - Evolutionary Theory in Philosophical Focus (1984), Reconstructing the Past - Parsimony, Evolution, and Inference (1988), Philosophy of Biology (1993), From a Biological Point of View - Essays in Evolutionary Philosophy (1994), and Unto Others - The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior (1998), coauthored with David Sloan Wilson.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521598362
• ISBN 13: 9780521598361
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 424
• Editor: Orzack Steven Hecht, Sober Elliott