Evolution and the levels of selection / Samir Okasha.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Okasha, Samir, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Natural selection--Philosophy.

Natural selection.

Evolution (Biology)--Philosophy.

Evolution (Biology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 263 pages)

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Clarendon Press ; Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Does natural selection act primarily on individual organisms, on groups, on genes, or on whole species? Samir Okasha provides a comprehensive analysis of the debate in evolutionary biology over the levels of selection, focusing on conceptual, philosophical and foundational questions. A systematic framework is developed for thinking about natural selection acting at multiple levels of the biological hierarchy; the framework is then used to help resolve outstanding issues.Considerable attention is paid to the concept of causality as it relates to the levels of selection, in particular the idea t

Contents:

Natural selection in the abstract

Selection at multiple levels : concepts and methods

Causality and multi-level selection

Philosophical issues in the levels-of-selection debate

The gene's-eye view and its discontents

The group selection controversy

Species selection, clade selection, and macroevolution

Levels of selection and the major evolutionary transitions.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [241]-255) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-955671-7

1-280-75510-5

9786610755103

0-19-153321-1

1-4356-2266-9

OCLC:

123130836