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Discussion: What Does Natural Selection Explain? Correction to Sober

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Karen Neander
Karen Neander*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy The University of Wollongong
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Abstract

In this paper I argue against Sober's claim that natural selection does not explain the traits of individuals. Sober argues that natural selection only explains the distribution of traits in a population. My point is that the explanation of an individual's traits involves us in a description of the individual's ancestry, and in an explanation of the distribution of traits in that ancestral population. Thus Sober is wrong, natural selection is part of the explanation of the traits of individuals.

Information

Type
Discussion
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 55 , Issue 3 , September 1988 , pp. 422 - 426
Copyright
Copyright © 1988 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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References

REFERENCES

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Sober, E. (1984), The Nature of Selection. Cambridge, Mass.: A Bradford Book, The MIT Press.Google Scholar
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