Drift and “Statistically Abstractive Explanation”
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10704352 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mohan Matthen (0000-0003-0186-3812, University of Toronto, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 76 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 464-487 |
| Publication date | 2009-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8248 • E-ISSN: 1539-767X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1086/648063 |
| OpenAlex | W1592352328 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 17 |
A hitherto neglected form of explanation is explored, especially its role in population genetics. “Statistically abstractive explanation” (SA explanation) mandates the suppression of factors probabilistically relevant to an explanandum when these factors are extraneous to the theoretical project being pursued. When these factors are suppressed, the explanandum is rendered uncertain. But this uncertainty traces to the theoretically constrained character of SA explanation, not to any real indeterminacy. Random genetic drift is an artifact of such uncertainty, and it is therefore wrong to reify it as a cause of evolution or as a process in its own right
Artifact (error) · Epistemology · Indeterminacy (philosophy) · Population · Sociology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Demography · Evolution and Genetic Dynamics · Gene Regulatory Network Analysis · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science
Assessing statistical views of natural selection
Driftability
Symmetry breaking and the emergence of path-dependence
Driftability and niche construction
Really Statistical Explanations and Genetic Drift
Implications of Use of Wright's F ST for the Role of Probability and Causation in Evolution
Statistical Autonomous Explanations and the Patterns of Nature
Organisms, Traits, and Population Subdivisions
Autonomous-Statistical Explanations and Natural Selection
The Devil in the Details
Non-Darwinian Evolution
Two Ways of Thinking About Fitness and Natural Selection
The Return of the Gene
Aspects of Scientific Explanation and Other Essays
Taxonomy, Polymorphism, and History
Evolutionary Dynamics
The Nature of Selection
Of Mice and Metaphysics
Selection, Drift, and the “Forces” of Evolution
Selection and Causation
Evolution, Population Thinking, and Essentialism
Chance and Natural Selection
The Pomp of Superfluous Causes
And all That. A Tale of Two Sciences
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,64 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2025 (14) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |