Philosophy of Biology

PREFACE

PhilosophyofBiologyhastakenflightinthelastquarterofthetwentiethcen-

tury. Inverylargepart,ofcourse,thisisbecausebiologyitselfhasmadehuge

stridesinthisperiodoftime.Notonlyhasittakenlargestrides,butithasdone

soinawaythatithasmadeitaplayerinmanyofthelargestpublicissuesofthe

hashadadramaticeffectonphilosophers.Whatkindofprocessisevolution?Are

moralsandmeaningreducibletobiology?Whatisthesignificanceofgeneticin-

heritance?Ofthemolecularsubstrateoflife?Questionslikethesebubbleupfrom

commondiscourse,frompopularculture,fromdiscussionsincoffeeshops. And

philosophershavebeenwillingandwell-equippedtotakethemup.

Asrecentlyas 1975 ,philosophyofbiologywasnotgenerallyrecognizedasa

subfield,thoughtextsbyMichaelRuseandDavidHullhadappeared. Manyof

thosewhomwerecognizetodayasthemostprominentphilosophersofbiology

wereengagedinotherthings:ElliottSoberwaswritingaboutsimplicity,Daniel

C.DennettaboutRyleantheoriesofmind,PhilipKitcheraboutmathematics.

VirtuallynoUniversityDepartmentthought:“Whatwereallyneedrightnowis

aphilosopherofbiology.”Philosophicaldiscussionsofbiologicalissueswereonly

justbeginningtogobeyondtherathermechanicalbusinessoflocalizingdebates

emanatingfromgeneralphilosophyofscience. Thepioneerswereinplace,of

course.LogicalempiricistslikeCarlHempelandErnestNagelhaddiscussedtele-

ology.DavidHullandNicolasJardinehaddonesomestartlinglyoriginalworkon

biologicalsystematics.ArthurBurks,thevisionaryfromMichigan,wasprovoking

interestingeneticalgorithms.MarjorieGreneandMichaelRuseblazedtrailsin

discussionsofevolution(nottomentionKarlPopperinhispeculiarlyopinion-

atedway). Therewasdesultoryinterestinphilosophicalissuessurroundingthe

reductionofMendeliangeneticstomolecularbiology,thoughherethegeneralas-

sumptionwasthattheissueswerereallynodifferentfromthoseinthereductionof

thermodynamicstostatisticalmechanics.Someofthephilosophicallyinteresting

workinthisperiodtookplaceinhistoricaldiscussions—intheworkofsuchAris-

totelianscholarsasDavidBalmeandGeoffreyLloydontaxonomy,forexample,

andinT.S.Hall’sIdeasofLifeandMatter.Andthen,ofcourse,therewerethose

outsidephilosophy,writinginwaysthatwererecognizablyphilosophical:Richard

Dawkins,E.O.Wilson,RichardLewontin,StephenGould,MichaelGhiselin,and

day DNA, cloning, evolution, evolutionary psychology It is not an exagg eration
either to say that Darwin, cloning, and DNA now occupy as much space
in academic and intellectual conversations as Shakespeare or the Bible. This

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