Science and Selection: Essays on Biological Evolution and the Philosophy of Science

by David L. Hull

• ISBN13: 9780521644051
• ISBN10: 0521644054
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-11-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

One way to understand science is as a selection process. David Hull, one of the dominant figures in contemporary philosophy of science, sets out in this volume a general analysis of this selection process that applies equally to biological evolution, the reaction of the immune system to antigens, operant learning, and social and conceptual change in science. Science and Selection brings together many of Hull's most important essays on selection (some never before published) in one accessible volume.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(13)
PART I SELECTION IN BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
Interactors versus Vehicles	13	(33)
Replicators and Interactors	22	(10)
Conceptual Evolution: Replication	32	(6)
Conceptual Evolution: Interaction	38	(8)
Taking Vehicles Seriously	46	(3)
A General Account of Selection: Biology, Immunology, and Behavior, with Rodney E. Langman and Sigrid S. Glenn	49	(48)
Introduction	49	(4)
A Brief Characterization of Selection	53	(8)
Selection in Biological Evolution	61	(5)
Somatic Selection in the Immune System	66	(9)
Operant Selection	75	(15)
Conclusion	90	(7)
PART II SELECTION IN THE EVOLUTION OF SCIENCE
A Mechanism and Its Metaphysics: An Evolutionary Account of the Social and Conceptual Development of Science	97	(38)
Conceptual Inclusive Fitness	101	(8)
Selection Processes	109	(3)
The Role of Individuality in Selection	112	(3)
Science as a Selection Process	115	(4)
Disanalogies between Biological and Conceptual Evolution	119	(6)
Conceptual Interaction	125	(2)
The Type Specimen Method of Reference	127	(5)
Conclusion	132	(3)
Why Scientists Behave Scientificially	135	(4)
What's Wrong with Invisible-Hand Explanations?	139	(12)
Introduction	139	(1)
Invisible-Hand Explanations in Their Causal Context	140	(2)
A Social Structure of Science	142	(2)
Invisible-Hand Explanations in Science	144	(4)
Conclusion	148	(3)
PART III TESTING OUR VIEWS ABOUT SCIENCE
A Function for Actual Examples in Philosophy of Science	151	(15)
Thought Experiments in Science	153	(5)
Thought Experiments in Philosophy of Science	158	(6)
Conclusion	164	(2)
The Evolution of Conceptual Systems in Science	166	(19)
Models of Conceptual Selection in Science	169	(5)
Gathering Data to Test Models of Science	174	(4)
The Demic Structure of Science	178	(5)
Conclusion	183	(2)
Testing Philosophical Claims about Science	185	(11)
Testing Meta-Level Claims	186	(2)
Idealizations	188	(2)
Studying Science	190	(2)
Operationalizing in the Study of Science	192	(2)
Normative Claims about Science	194	(2)
That Just Don't Sound Right: A Plea for Real Examples	196	(26)
Biological Species	205	(8)
Natural Kinds	213	(5)
Conclusion	218	(4)
Studying the Study of Science Scientifically	222	(21)
Planck's Principle	226	(5)
Birth Order and Science	231	(2)
The Role of Novel Predictions in Science	233	(5)
Conclusion	238	(5)
References	243	(20)
Index	263