Two kinds of evolutionary individuals
The concept of common interest as an evolutionary foundation of dualism on biological individuality
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12028596 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adrian Stencel (0000-0002-3933-2059, Jagiellonian University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History & Philosophy of the Life Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0391-9714 • E-ISSN: 1742-6316 |
| Publisher | Springer Nature (PUBLISHER • SG) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s40656-026-00721-w |
| PMID | 41735764 |
| OpenAlex | W7131243635 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 138 |
What is a biological individual? This is a question that has been of interest to biologists and philosophers for a long time. The usual response is an attempt either to find a single, unifying concept (a monistic stance) or to justify the existence of multiple concepts, for instance, by referring to scientific practice (a pluralistic stance). In this paper, I adopt a pluralistic stance and focus on evolutionary studies. I argue that in the context of evolutionary biology we need to distinguish between two kinds of evolutionary individuals, based on the concept of common interest. I decouple this into common interest by necessity (CIN) and common interest by contingency (CIC), and argue that this division corresponds to two kinds of evolutionary individuals. To situate the framework I thus develop within the context of ongoing discussions, I then compare it with frameworks corresponding to other concepts commonly found in the relevant literature, such as those concerning units of selection and agency. The conclusion is that the ontology of evolutionary biology is more complex than often assumed, and that we should distinguish: units of selection, agents, and two kinds of evolutionary individuals
Context (archaeology · Contingency · Dualism · Focus (optics · Foundation (evidence · Monism · Ontology · Selection (genetic algorithm · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Philosophy and History of Science
Agents and Goals in Evolution
Evolution and the Levels of Selection
Biological Autonomy
Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection
Individuality and Selection
Varieties of Living Things
A Symbiotic View of Life
Two Ways of Thinking About Fitness and Natural Selection
The Units of Selection
The genetical evolution of social behaviour. I
The Unit of Adaptation, the Emergence of Individuality, and the Loss of Evolutionary Sovereignty
How many ways can you die? Multiple biological deaths as a consequence of the multiple concepts of an organism
The Polygenomic Organism
Darwinian Dynamics
Holobionts
The stability of traits conception of the hologenome
Multispecies individuals
Agential thinking
Biological Individuality and Scientific Practice
Reproduction Expanded
Populations and Individuals in Heterokaryotic Fungi
On the very idea of biological individuality
Bivalent Selection and Graded Darwinian Individuality
The Coalition Merchants
"Constructing "Us
The organism as ontological go-between
The Grounds of Necessity
The Double Edge of Common Interest
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |