Moving past the levels of selection debates

Abstract

Samir Okasha’s book (2006) covers a huge amount of ground. There is much in the book to interest both philosophers of biology and biologists. Overall, I find a lot to agree with in Okasha’s book. There are some conclusions that he draws that I would perhaps arrive at via different arguments and we may have some methodological differences (I think, but I will discuss this issue below) but we agree on a lot. He introduces some helpful distinctions and makes some real headway in the levels of selection discussion. When one finds so much to agree with, it is hard to pick a fight. I will at least try to draw Okasha out on a few issues in the hope that he is interested in pursuing them further. I focus on his discussion of heredity, that arises at a number of points throughout the book. I engage with some of his discussion of debates in philosophy of biology over the levels of selection and pose some questions about approaching levels of selection and evolutionary transitions. Finally, I discuss some methodological issues for philosophers of biology that arise from the book.