Multi-Level Selection and the Explanatory Value of Mathematical Decompositions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8399083 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher Clarke (0000-0002-6225-0115, University of Cambridge, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 67 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1025-1055 |
| Publication date | 2016-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjps/axv008 |
| OpenAlex | W2115813356 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 39 |
Do multi-level selection explanations of the evolution of social traits deepen the understanding provided by single-level explanations? Central to multi-level explanations is a mathematical theorem: the multi-level Price decomposition. I build a framework through which to understand the explanatory role of such non-empirical decompositions in scientific practice. Applying this general framework to the present case places two tasks on the agenda. The first task is to distinguish the various ways by which one might suppress within-collective variation in fitness, or indeed between-collective variation in fitness. I distinguish five such ways: increasing retaliatory capacity; homogenizing assortment; collapsing either fitness structure or character distribution to a mean value; and boosting fitness uniformly within collectives. I then evaluate the biological interest of each of these hypothetical interventions. The second task is to discover whether one of the right-hand terms of the Price decomposition measures the effect of any of these interventions. On this basis I argue that the multi-level Price decomposition has explanatory value primarily when the sharing-out of collective resources is ‘subtractable’. Thus its value is more circumscribed than its champions Sober and Wilson ([1998]) suppose. 1. Single-Level and Multi-Level Selection 2. Three Conditions on Explanatory Decompositions 3. The Multi-Level Price Decomposition 4. The Biological Interest Problem for Sober and Wilson 5. Explanatory Depth Whenever Resources are Subtractable 6. Other Alterations to Within-Collective Variation 7. Alterations to Between-Collective Variation 8. Alternative Approaches to Explanatory Depth 9. Conclusion
Boosting (machine learning) · Econometrics · Economics · Selection (genetic algorithm) · Statistics · Value (mathematics) · Variation (astronomy) · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Evolution and Genetic Dynamics · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Mathematics · Philosophy and History of Science
Evolution and the Levels of Selection
Making Things Happen
The Selfish Gene
Extension of covariance selection mathematics
Selection and Covariance
The genetical evolution of social behaviour. I
Mathematical Models of Social Evolution
Darwinian Dynamics
The Major Transitions in Evolution
Alternative formulations of multilevel selection
Foundations of Social Evolution
The Nature of Selection
Studies in the Logic of Explanation
Explanatory Unification
The Return of the Group
Causation in the Law
Multi-Level Selection, Covariance and Contextual Analysis
Mathematical Explanation in Science
The Relation between Kin and Multilevel Selection
On the Explanatory Role of Mathematics in Empirical Science
Hamilton’s Rule and Its Discontents
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |