Adaptationism and Optimality

by Edited by Steven Hecht Orzack , Elliott Sober

• ISBN13: 9780521591669
• ISBN10: 052159166X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-06-11
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The debate over the relative importance of natural selection as compared to other forces affecting the evolution of organisms is a long-standing and central controversy in evolutionary biology. The theory of adaptationism argues that natural selection contains sufficient explanatory power in itself to account for all evolution. However, there are differing views about the efficiency of the adaptation model of explanation. If the adaptationism theory is applied, are energy and resources being used to their optimum? This book presents an up-to-date view of this controversy and reflects the dramatic changes in our understanding of evolution that have occurred in the last twenty years. The volume combines contributions from biologists and philosophers, and offers a systematic treatment of foundational, conceptual, and methodological issues surrounding the theory of adaptationism. The essays examine recent developments in topics such as phylogenetic analysis, the theory of optimality and ess models, and methods of testing models.

Table of Contents

Contributors	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	1	(23)
Steven Hecht Orzack
Elliott Sober
A Likelihood Framework for the Phylogenetic Analysis of Adaptation	24	(21)
David A. Baum
Michael J. Donoghue
Adaptation, Phylogenetic Inertia, and the Method of Controlled Comparisons	45	(19)
Steven Hecht Orzack
Elliott Sober
Optimality and Phylogeny: A Critique of Current Thought	64	(50)
Hudson Kern Reeve
Paul W. Sherman
Fit of Form and Function, Diversity of Life, and Procession of Life as an Evolutionary Game	114	(47)
Joel S. Brown
Optimality and Evolutionary Stability under Short-Term and Long-Term Selection	161	(30)
Ilan Eshel
Marcus W. Feldman
Selective Regime and Fig Wasp Sex Ratios: Toward Sorting Rigor from Pseudo-Rigor in Tests of Adaptation	191	(28)
Edward Allen Herre
Carlos A. Machado
Stuart A. West
Is Optimality Over the Hill? The Fitness Landscapes of Idealized Organisms	219	(23)
George W. Gilchrist
Joel G. Kingsolver
Adaptation, Optimality, and the Meaning of Phenotypic Variation in Natural Populations	242	(31)
Kenneth J. Halama
David N. Reznick
Adaptationism, Optimality Models, and Tests of Adaptive Scenarios	273	(30)
Peter Abrams
Adaptation and Development: On the Lack of Common Ground	303	(32)
Ron Amundson
Three Kinds of Adaptationism	335	(23)
Peter Godfrey-Smith
Adaptation, Adaptationism, and Optimality	358	(31)
Egbert Giles Leigh, Jr.
Index	389