Natural Selection and the Nature of Statistical Explanations
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22329416 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roger Deulofeu (0000-0002-4554-9756, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Publication date | 2023-10-27 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0011-1503 • E-ISSN: 1870-4905 |
| Publisher | Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (PUBLISHER • MX) |
| DOI | 10.22201/iifs.18704905e.2023.1465 |
| OpenAlex | W4388283131 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 39 |
There is a widespread philosophical interpretation of natural selection in evolutionary theory: natural selection, like mutation, migration, and drift are seen as forces that propel the evolution of populations. Natural selection is thus a population level causal process. This account has been challenged by the Statistics, claiming that natural selection is not a population level cause but rather a statistical feature of a population. This paper examines the nature of the aforementioned ontological debate and the nature of statistical explanations given by population genetics. I claim that the Modern Synthesis provides good explanations of the changes in trait structure of populations without appealing to detailed causal information about the individual trajectories of the members of a population
Biology · Causal structure · Economics · Epistemology · Evolutionary biology · Genetic drift · Natural selection · Neutral theory of molecular evolution · Population · Population genetics · Positive economics · Sociology · Trait · Computer Science · Demography · Evolution and Genetic Dynamics · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Artificial Intelligence
Because Without Cause
Making Things Happen
Biological Complexity and Integrative Pluralism
The New Mechanical Philosophy
Unsimple Truths
Two Ways of Thinking About Fitness and Natural Selection
Equilibrium explanation
Epiphenomenalism
Chasing shadows
Topological explanations and robustness in biological sciences
Explaining the behaviour of random ecological networks
The Trials of Life
Fit and Diversity
Thinking about Mechanisms
Really Statistical Explanations and Genetic Drift
Chance and Natural Selection
Minimal Model Explanations
The Pomp of Superfluous Causes
After the Philosophy of Mind
Autonomous-Statistical Explanations and Natural Selection
Statistics and Selection
| Highly cited | No |
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