The Nature of Selection is a straightforward, self-contained introduction to philosophical and biological problems in evolutionary theory. It presents a powerful analysis of the evolutionary concepts of natural selection, fitness, and adaptation and clarifies controversial issues concerning altruism[...]
Reconstructing the Past seeks to clarify and help resolve the vexing methodological issues that arise when biologists try to answer such questions as whether human beings are more closely related to chimps than they are to gorillas. It explores the case for considering the philosophical idea of simp[...]
How should the concept of evidence be understood? And how does the concept of evidence apply to the controversy about creationism as well as to work in evolutionary biology about natural selection and common ancestry? In this rich and wide-ranging book, Elliott Sober investigates general questions a[...]
No matter what we do, however kind or generous our deeds may seen, a hidden motive of selfishness lurks - or so science has claimed for years. This book tells readers differently. The authors demonstrate that unselfish behaviour is in fact an important feature of both biological and human nature. Th[...]
Perhaps because of it implications for our understanding of human nature, recent philosophy of biology has seen what might be the most dramatic work in the philosophies of the special sciences. This drama has centered on evolutionary theory, and in the second edition of this textbook, Elliott Sober[...]
Ockham's razor, the principle of parsimony, states that simpler theories are better than theories that are more complex. It has a history dating back to Aristotle and it plays an important role in current physics, biology, and psychology. The razor also gets used outside of science - in everyday lif[...]
Never Highlight a Book Again! Just the FACTS101 study guides give the student the textbook outlines, highlights, practice quizzes and optional access to the full practice tests for their textbook.[...]
This is an incisive collection of essays exploring one of the most influential scientific theories of all time. Did Charles Darwin reject the idea that group selection causes characteristics to evolve that are good for the group but bad for the individual? How does Darwin's discussion of God square [...]