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The philosophy of biology: a selection of readings and resources

Tim Lewens

The literature on the philosophy of biology is enormous; what follows only scratches the surface. Here I have restricted myself mainly to evolutionary biology, although there are short sections on evolutionary epistemology and evolutionary ethics. I have tried to include a handful of the best, the most interesting or the most often slated books and articles under each topic heading. These selections are intended as starting points for the interested student. Those who want to go further will have to follow their noses. Sterelny and Griffiths (1999) provide useful assistance to nose followers in the form of very up-to-date reading lists at the end of each of their chapters. Their book would also be a good starting point for researchers interested in topics that are not covered here – for example, issues in the philosophy of molecular biology and the philosophy of ecology, or traditional questions for philosophy of biology such as how to define life and how to define fitness.


General

Online resources

The two leading online encyclopaedias of philosophy have good resources for philosophy of biology, and both are expanding the range of material they have available. They are:

Textbooks

Those who want to check their biology might benefit from either of the following textbooks, written for biology students.

Collections

Journals

Many generalist philosophy and philosophy of science journals (e.g. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science [http://bjps.oxfordjournals.org/], Philosophy of Science [http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/PHILSCI/], Journal of Philosophy [http://uk.jstor.org/journals/0022362X.html]) also regularly carry articles on the philosophy of biology. The Philosophers' Index [http://www.csa1.co.uk/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=chest81&access=chest8147] will help with literature searches.

Researchers without biological training shouldn't be scared of reading articles in biology journals. Many debates take place across disciplines these days, and you will miss out if you only read philosophy journals. TREE (Trends in Ecology and Evolution) [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01695347] is a good example of a journal that is not too technical and full of interesting bits of real biology to intimidate other philosophers with. It and many other useful biology journals are held in the Central Science Library, only a stone's throw from the Whipple. The Whipple is also near to the Zoology Library, another useful research resource.


Adaptation and adaptationism

Gould and Lewontin (1979) is probably the best place to start. The debate can get confusing and frustrating, as squabbling about whether adaptationism is right or wrong often kicks off before the multiple meanings of 'adaptationism' have been clarified. Sober's (1998) article is an exception, and provides a useful landmark in the post-Spandrels debate. Ron Amundson's contribution to the collection edited by Rose and Lauder is also extremely helpful. Many of the items in the following section on developmental biology also contain challenges to adaptationism.


Developmental biology and developmental systems theory

Developmental biology is a topic attracting more and more interest from philosophers who are bored with thinking about species and the units of selection. Many of these items overlap with the related topics of innateness and the question of whether there is any sense in which genes can be said to carry information.

Information in molecular biology

Innateness


The units of selection

A difficult topic with a huge literature. The questions raised under the units of selection debate are confusing because even the seasoned combatants often cannot decide what the debate is about. John Maynard Smith thinks that Elliott Sober doesn't understand what the units of selection problem is. If Sober doesn't understand it, then there is little hope for the rest of us (but it still makes an exciting topic for research). Items in the section on developmental biology are relevant here, too; developmental systems theorists believe they have powerful resources to undermine genic selectionism.


Functions and teleology

Almost every article the teleologist could need is collected in one of these three collections:

The first two collections contain many seminal papers in the field. Be sure to look at those of Wright, Cummins, Millikan, Neander, Amundson and Lauder, Godfrey-Smith and Buller.

Interesting and/or important contributions that slipped through these editors' nets include:

There is also a recent overview of the functions literature by me:


Species

Another topic with an intimidating literature. Dupré's (1992) piece gives a short, friendly introduction. Readers could then move on to Ereschefsky's collection, which contains many of the most important pieces. Wilson's recent collection contains some important newer contributions.


Progress

The idea that evolution makes progress has tended to get more attention from historians than philosophers; however, the following are more philosophically oriented. This said, the fight in print between Dawkins (1997) and Gould (1997) is of more interest as an entertaining spectacle than as an illuminating discussion. Sterelny offers some useful criticism. Nitecki's (1988) collection is probably the best place to start.


Evolutionary epistemology, cultural evolution and memetics

Here follows a mish-mash of different evolutionary approaches to conceptual change, technology change, cultural change and more. Amundson's (1989) paper does a good job of distinguishing the question of whether selection processes are somehow involved in creating a set of phenomena, from what the explanatory import of the selection process may be. Dawkins (1976) presents a first outline of what is now know as memetics, and his views are defended and extended by Dennett (1995) towards the end of his book. Hull (1988) offers a useful examination of the idea that cultural evolution is Lamarckian. Some of the most serious and fecund work in this area has been done by Boyd and Richerson, and their (2005) book is an excellent place to start. My own SEP article attempts an overview.


Evolution and ethics

The items listed below link evolutionary studies to ethics in a variety of ways. Joyce's recent book is a stimulating read, and may be a good place to start. Sober and Wilson's book is fast becoming a modern classic.

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UPDATED 14 SEPTEMBER 2007   © UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE 2007