[...]... rival to the Price approach to multi-level selection The relative merits of the two approaches are considered Chapter 4, ‘Philosophical Issues in the Levels- of- Selection Debate’, aims to resolve a number of outstanding philosophical debates over the levels of selection The ‘additivity criterion’ of Lloyd and Wimsatt 6 Evolution and the Levels of Selection is discussed, as is Brandon’s ‘screening off’ criterion,... read the whole book, and a consumer guide for those who intend to pick and choose In Chapter 1, ‘Natural Selection in the Abstract’, the logic of evolution by natural selection is spelled out, and the origin of the levels- of- selection problem explained I emphasize the abstract nature of the principle of natural selection any entities that satisfy the requisite conditions will evolve by natural selection, ... discussed, as is the old question of ‘beanbag genetics’ I argue that the heuristic value of the gene’s-eye view is greatest when the genotype–phenotype map is relatively simple Chapter 6, The Group Selection Controversy’, examines the notorious issue of group selection in behavioural ecology, one of the mainstays of the traditional levels- of- selection debate The origins of the controversy and its subsequent... Philosophical Issues in the Levels- of- Selection Debate Introduction 4.1 Emergence and Additivity 112 112 112 4.1.1 The Emergent Character Requirement 112 4.1.2 Additivity and the Wimsatt/Lloyd Approach 114 4.1.3 Emergent Relations and the Damuth–Heisler Approach 119 4.2 Screening Off and the Levels of Selection 4.3 Realism versus Pluralism about the Levels of Selection 121 125 4.3.1 Pluralism and Causality 128... process of cumulative selection Chapter 8, Levels of Selection and the Major Evolutionary Transitions’, looks at the major evolutionary transitions, and in particular the idea that multi-level selection theory is crucial for understanding them As characterized by Michod (1999) and Maynard Smith and Szathm´ry a (1995), these transitions occur when a number of free-living biological individuals, capable of. .. Michod and co-workers on the evolution of multicellularity 1 Natural Selection in the Abstract I N T RO D U C T I O N The levels- of- selection problem is one of the most fundamental in evolutionary biology, for it arises directly from the underlying logic of Darwinism The problem can be seen as the upshot of three factors, each of which was appreciated to some extent by Darwin himself The first and most... entities that are units of selection Thus we can translate easily between talks of units and levels Note that this convention contrasts with the usage of Brandon (1988), who uses the unit/level distinction in lieu of the replicator/interactor distinction It also contrasts with the usage of Reeve and Keller (1999), who regard the ‘units of selection question as stale but the levels of selection question... traced, up to and including the neo-group selectionist revival of recent years The relationship between group selection, kin selection, and evolutionary game theory is discussed; I examine the argument that the latter two theories constitute versions of, rather than alternatives to, traditional group selection Next I consider a dispute between Maynard Smith and Sober and Wilson over the status of ‘trait-group’... about the levels- of- selection question in evolutionary biology It is not a work of biology, however, but rather of philosophy of science It examines a cluster of conceptual, foundational, and philosophical problems raised by the debate over levels of selection and related topics in biology These problems have been extensively discussed over the past forty years, by both biologists and philosophers of. .. Chapter 5, The Gene’s-Eye View and its Discontents’, examines the genic view of evolution associated with Williams, Dawkins, Maynard Smith, and others The origins of the genic approach in the work of Fisher and Hamilton are traced I then discuss an ambiguity over its status: is it an empirical thesis about the course of evolution, or a heuristic perspective for thinking about evolution? The ambiguity . number of outstanding philosophical debates over the levels of selection. The ‘additivity criterion’ of Lloyd and Wimsatt 6 Evolution and the Levels of Selection is discussed, as is Brandon’s. Challenge 210 7.4 The Concept of Clade Selection 212 8. Levels of Selection and the Major Evolutionary Transitions 218 Introduction 218 8.1 The Transformation of the Levels- of- Selection Question. The Group Selection Controversy’, examines the notori- ous issue of group selection in behavioural ecology, one of the mainstays of the traditional levels- of- selection debate. The origins of