The Notion of ‘Group’ and Tests of Group Selection
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10706686 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ayelet Shavit (0000-0002-4683-0857, University of California, Davis, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1052-1063 |
| Publication date | 2005-12-01 |
| 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 | 10.1086/508119 |
| OpenAlex | W1990189987 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 18 |
This paper examines the empirical aspect of the debates over group selection. I argue that specific narrow readings of the notion of ‘group’ result in a deficient experimentation of the group selection process. Criteria for empirical testability are presented and used to reexamine two well-known experiments of group selection. I argue that the former holds a narrow image of ‘group’ that does not distinguish group selection from selection at other levels; while the latter holds a multifaceted image of ‘group’ that offers a way to achieve substantive progress in the debate. However, most supporters and opponent of group selection maintain a narrow and restricted image of ‘group’, which implicitly undermines informative details regarding population dynamics and population structure. These details may improve our understanding of the evolution of altruism and the evolution of sociality. To conclude, adopting a wide-ranging meaning of ‘group’ may empirically advance the group selection debates
Altruism (biology) · Biology · Epistemology · Evolutionary biology · Group (periodic table) · Group selection · Kin selection · Meaning (existential) · Population · Selection (genetic algorithm) · Sociality · Sociology · Testability · Anthropology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Demography · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
Individuality and Selection
The Units of Selection
Darwinian Dynamics
The Major Transitions in Evolution
Adaptation and Environment
Cooperation Among Animals
Punishment allows the evolution of cooperation (or anything else) in sizable groups
Shifting values partly explain the debate over group selection
Why the Gene Will Not Return
Artifact, Cause and Genic Selection
Development, Culture, and the Units of Inheritance
Aggregativity
Why Won't the Group Selection Controversy Go Away
| Highly cited | No |
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