Philosophy of biology
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- | '''David Lee Hull''' (15 June 1935 - 11 August 2010) was a philosopher with a particular interest in the [[philosophy of biology]]. In addition to his academic prominence, he was well-known as a [[gay]] man who fought for the rights of other gay and lesbian philosophers. | + | The '''philosophy of biology''' is a subfield of [[philosophy of science]], which deals with [[epistemology|epistemological]], [[metaphysics|metaphysical]], and [[ethics|ethical]] issues in the biological and biomedical sciences. Although philosophers of science and philosophers generally have long been interested in biology (e.g., [[Aristotle]], [[Descartes]], and even [[Kant]]), philosophy of biology only emerged as an independent field of philosophy in the 1960s and 1970s. Philosophers of science then began paying increasing attention to [[biology]], from the rise of [[Neodarwinism]] in the 1930s and 1940s to the discovery of the structure of [[DNA]] in 1953 to more recent advances in [[genetic engineering]]. |
- | + | Other key ideas such as the [[Reduction (philosophy)|reduction]] of all life processes to [[biochemical]] reactions as well as the incorporation of [[psychology]] into a broader [[neuroscience]] are also addressed. | |
- | Hull was one of the first graduates of the [[History and Philosophy of Science]] department at [[Indiana University Bloomington|Indiana University]]. After earning his PhD from IU he taught at the [[University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee]] for 20 years before moving to [[Northwestern University|Northwestern]], where he taught for another 20 years. Hull was a former president of the Philosophy of Science Association and the Society for Systematic Biology. He was particularly well known for his argument that species are not sets or collections but rather spatially and temporally extended individuals (also called the individuality thesis or "species-as-individuals" thesis). | + | |
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- | Hull also proposed an elaborate discussion of science as an evolutionary process in his 1988 book, which also offered a historical account of the "taxonomy wars" of the 1960s and 1970s between three competing schools of taxonomy: [[phenetics]], [[evolutionary systematics]], and [[cladistics]]. In Hull's view, science evolves like organisms and populations do, with a demic population structure, subject to selection for ideas ([[memes]]) based on "conceptual inclusive credit." Either novelty or citation of work gives credit, and the professional careers of scientists share in credit by using successful research. This is a "hidden hand" account of scientific progress. | + | |
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- | He was Dressler Professor in the Humanities Emeritus at [[Northwestern University]]. | + | |
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
- | * [[American philosophy]] | + | *[[Bioethics]] |
- | * [[List of American philosophers]] | + | *[[Biosemiotics]] |
+ | *[[Evolutionary anthropology]] | ||
+ | *[[Evolutionary psychology]] | ||
+ | *[[Living computers theory]] | ||
+ | *[[Mechanism (biology)]] | ||
+ | *[[Neuroaesthetics]] | ||
+ | *[[Philosophy of chemistry]] | ||
+ | *[[Philosophy of mind]] | ||
+ | *[[Philosophy of physics]] | ||
+ | *[[Philosophy of science]] | ||
+ | *[[Physics envy]] | ||
+ | *[[Sociobiology]] | ||
+ | ===Biologists with an interest in the philosophical aspects of biology=== | ||
+ | *[[Francisco J. Ayala]] | ||
+ | *[[Patrick Bateson]] | ||
+ | *[[Richard Dawkins]] | ||
+ | *[[Jared Diamond]] | ||
+ | *[[Michael Ghiselin]] | ||
+ | *[[Stephen Jay Gould]] | ||
+ | *[[Richard Lewontin]] | ||
+ | *[[Humberto Maturana]] | ||
+ | *[[John Maynard Smith]] | ||
+ | *[[Ernst Mayr]] | ||
+ | *[[Richard E. Michod]] | ||
+ | *[[Brent Mishler]] | ||
+ | *[[Joan Roughgarden]] | ||
+ | *[[Rolf Sattler]] | ||
+ | *[[Edward O. Wilson]] | ||
+ | ==Bibliography== | ||
+ | * [[Marjorie Grene]] & David Depew: ''The Philosophy of Biology: An Episodic History'', Cambridge University Press, 2004 | ||
+ | * Mayr, E ''The Growth of Biological Thought: diversity, evolution and inheritance'' [[London]] Harvard University Press 1982 ISBN 0-674-36445-7 | ||
+ | * Mayr, E ''[[Toward a New Philosophy of Biology|Towards a new philosophy of biology:observations of an evolutionist]]'' London Harvard University Press 1988 ISBN 0-674-89666-1 | ||
+ | * [[Alexander Rosenberg]] ''Structure of Biological Science'' [[Cambridge]] [[Cambridge University]] Press 1985 | ||
+ | * [[Elliot Sober]] ''The Nature of Selection'' [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge, Mass.]] [[MIT]] Press 1984 | ||
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The philosophy of biology is a subfield of philosophy of science, which deals with epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical issues in the biological and biomedical sciences. Although philosophers of science and philosophers generally have long been interested in biology (e.g., Aristotle, Descartes, and even Kant), philosophy of biology only emerged as an independent field of philosophy in the 1960s and 1970s. Philosophers of science then began paying increasing attention to biology, from the rise of Neodarwinism in the 1930s and 1940s to the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 to more recent advances in genetic engineering. Other key ideas such as the reduction of all life processes to biochemical reactions as well as the incorporation of psychology into a broader neuroscience are also addressed.
See also
- Bioethics
- Biosemiotics
- Evolutionary anthropology
- Evolutionary psychology
- Living computers theory
- Mechanism (biology)
- Neuroaesthetics
- Philosophy of chemistry
- Philosophy of mind
- Philosophy of physics
- Philosophy of science
- Physics envy
- Sociobiology
Biologists with an interest in the philosophical aspects of biology
- Francisco J. Ayala
- Patrick Bateson
- Richard Dawkins
- Jared Diamond
- Michael Ghiselin
- Stephen Jay Gould
- Richard Lewontin
- Humberto Maturana
- John Maynard Smith
- Ernst Mayr
- Richard E. Michod
- Brent Mishler
- Joan Roughgarden
- Rolf Sattler
- Edward O. Wilson
Bibliography
- Marjorie Grene & David Depew: The Philosophy of Biology: An Episodic History, Cambridge University Press, 2004
- Mayr, E The Growth of Biological Thought: diversity, evolution and inheritance London Harvard University Press 1982 ISBN 0-674-36445-7
- Mayr, E Towards a new philosophy of biology:observations of an evolutionist London Harvard University Press 1988 ISBN 0-674-89666-1
- Alexander Rosenberg Structure of Biological Science Cambridge Cambridge University Press 1985
- Elliot Sober The Nature of Selection Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press 1984