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Evolution and the Levels of Selection
Does natural selection act primarily on individual organisms, on groups, on genes, or on whole species? The question of levels of selection - on which biologists and philosophers have long disagreed - is central to evolutionary theory and to the philosophy of biology. Samir Okasha's comprehensive analysis gives a clear account of the philosophical issues at stake in the current debate.
263 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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About the author
Samir Okasha
10Ìýbooks83ÌýfollowersBiography
I received my doctorate in 1998 from the University of Oxford, where I worked with Bill Newton-Smith. I then held a post-doctoral position at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), before moving to the London School of Economics as a Jacobsen Fellow. I was a Lecturer at the University of York from 2000-2002, and in 2003 moved to the University of Bristol. I was promoted to a personal chair in 2006.
I have held a visiting position at the Australian National University.
I received my doctorate in 1998 from the University of Oxford, where I worked with Bill Newton-Smith. I then held a post-doctoral position at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), before moving to the London School of Economics as a Jacobsen Fellow. I was a Lecturer at the University of York from 2000-2002, and in 2003 moved to the University of Bristol. I was promoted to a personal chair in 2006.
I have held a visiting position at the Australian National University.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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October 2, 2008The future of biology! And the "social sciences."
July 3, 2012
A very good account of the concepts behind the multi-level selection (MLS) point of view. It is moderately technical but well within the reach of a layman. There was some terminology I had to look up and a few equations to digest, but nothing too complicated.
The focus is very much on the conceptual level and there isn't a lot of discussion of empirical findings (some but not a lot). Some of the ideas I took from the book are: natural selection is inherently an abstract concept that can apply at multiple levels, distinguishing between levels requires looking at the biological details, there are two types of MLS that track different things (collectives themselves or particles in the collectives) and MLS1 is a little weird (in my opinion), gene's-eye-view and group selection are often equivalent ways of looking at things, and MLS plays a role in describing how the biological hierarchy evolved in the first place (rather than taking it as a given).
I partly read this to help get some understanding of the claims being made by EO Wilson in his new book. It was useful for that purpose but it was written before the Wilson paper and doesn't discuss kin selection/inclusive fitness (IF) in great detail (though it has some content and an entire chapter on the gene's-eye-view which is related to IF). Based on this book I would say two things about Wilson's paper: first, he would have done well to partner with someone like Okasha to bring some conceptual clarity to his claims and second, his claims about the demise of kin selection are greatly exaggerated at best (but ditto the counter-claims about the death of group selection... at least conceptually).
Anyone wanting to understand the multi-level selection controversy in biology won't go wrong in reading this book.
The focus is very much on the conceptual level and there isn't a lot of discussion of empirical findings (some but not a lot). Some of the ideas I took from the book are: natural selection is inherently an abstract concept that can apply at multiple levels, distinguishing between levels requires looking at the biological details, there are two types of MLS that track different things (collectives themselves or particles in the collectives) and MLS1 is a little weird (in my opinion), gene's-eye-view and group selection are often equivalent ways of looking at things, and MLS plays a role in describing how the biological hierarchy evolved in the first place (rather than taking it as a given).
I partly read this to help get some understanding of the claims being made by EO Wilson in his new book. It was useful for that purpose but it was written before the Wilson paper and doesn't discuss kin selection/inclusive fitness (IF) in great detail (though it has some content and an entire chapter on the gene's-eye-view which is related to IF). Based on this book I would say two things about Wilson's paper: first, he would have done well to partner with someone like Okasha to bring some conceptual clarity to his claims and second, his claims about the demise of kin selection are greatly exaggerated at best (but ditto the counter-claims about the death of group selection... at least conceptually).
Anyone wanting to understand the multi-level selection controversy in biology won't go wrong in reading this book.
April 9, 2013
Okasha has a fantastically clear writing style and blends philosophy and science seamlessly. Definitely a text of interest to academics in both camps. I learned a fair bit reading this, though I'm not sure I buy all of the points he makes.
January 25, 2010
The best book that has ever been written on the topic.
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