Welcome to Philosophy 523: Philosophy of Biology

Philosophy of biology encompasses many topics. Our focus will be on questions that arise within evolutionary theory as well as questions concerning the application of Darwinian ideas to the areas of psychology, ethics, and culture. We will start with an examination of the first part of Darwin's Origin of Species. We'll read enough to gain a sense of the views, both theological and empirical, that Darwin sought to replace. We'll also consider the evidence he took to favor his theory of evolution by natural selection over its competitors. We'll then turn to philosophical issues within evolutionary theory. These issues include its status as a scientific theory (in contrast to intelligent design theories), the units of selection problem, and adaptationism. Following discussion of these "internal" questions, we'll consider the application of evolutionary theory to other areas. Here we'll focus on philosophical issues that arise in evolutionary psychology, evolutionary ethics, and Darwinian accounts of culture.

 

Readings:

In addition to Elliott Sober's Philosophy of Biology, 2nd ed., we'll be reading the chapters and articles listed along the right side of this page. Sober's book is available at Underground Textbook Exchange, which is currently on the corner of Lake St. and University Ave.

 

 

 

 

Requirements:

There will be three papers and a final exam. Each assignment is worth 25% of your grade. I will provide topics for the first two papers, but it is up to you to decide on a topic for the third paper. The final exam will be cumulative.