Science and Selection
Essays on Biological Evolution and the Philosophy of Science

This 2001 book brings together many of David Hull's most important essays on selection in one accessible volume.

David L. Hull (Author)

9780521644051, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 November 2000

278 pages, 2 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.386 kg

'All the papers collected here exemplify Hull's direct and clear-headed approach to philosophy. The papers include refinements to Hull's views in response to critics, some new theoretical developments and some new examples … Hull makes interesting and productive suggestions for how to start work in some of these areas.' Biology and Philosophy

One way to understand science is as a selection process. David Hull, one of the dominant figures in contemporary philosophy of science, sets out in this 2001 volume a general analysis of this selection process that applies equally to biological evolution, the reaction of the immune system to antigens, operant learning, and social and conceptual change in science. Hull aims to distinguish between those characteristics that are contingent features of selection and those that are essential. Science and Selection brings together many of David Hull's most important essays on selection (some never before published) in one accessible volume.

Introduction
Part I. Selection in Biological Evolution: 1. Interactors versus vehicles
2. Taking vehicles seriously
3. A general analysis of selection, with Rod Langman and Sigrid Glenn
Part II. Selection in the Evolution of Science: 4. A mechanism and its metaphysics
5. Why scientists behave scientifically
6. What's wrong with invisible-hand explanations?
Part III. Testing our Views about Science: 7. A function for actual examples in philosophy of science
8. The evolution of conceptual systems in science
9. Testing philosophical claims about science
10. That just don't sound right: a plea for real examples in philosophy of science
11. Studying the study of science scientifically.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of science [PDA]