Natural Selection and the Metaphysics of Causation
(2022) Taiwan-Belgium Philosophy of Science Online Workshop — Location: Online (12.September.2022)
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- Abstract
- Contemporary arguments concerning the nature of causation in evolutionary theory, now often known as the debate between the “causalist” and “statisticalist” positions, have involved answers to a variety of independent questions – definitions of key evolutionary concepts like natural selection, fitness, and genetic drift; causation in multi-level systems; or the nature of evolutionary explanations, among others. In recent work, I have argued that a significant cluster of these questions, largely concerning causation, can be disconnected from the larger group and analyzed in isolation, allowing, I hope, for more fruitful engagement between the philosophy of biology and the metaphysics of science. Natural selection poses an under-studied but nonetheless not unique sort of causal structure that merits further exploration. In this talk, I will present some of these results, and highlight some of the exciting opportunities for future research that I believe this engagement could provide.
- Affiliations
Citations
Pence, C. (2022). Natural Selection and the Metaphysics of Causation. Taiwan-Belgium Philosophy of Science Online Workshop, Online. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/101856