In the early 1970s Michael Ruse’s The Philosophy of Biology (1973) and David Hull’s Philosophy of Biological Science (1974) introduced the philosophy of biology to a wide audience and by now readers interested in evolution by natural selection can chose from a wide selection of text books and supplementary publications. The easily accessible Zimmer (2001) and Dawkins (2006), the more demanding but rewarding Gould (2002), Maynard Smith & Szathmáry (1997) and Mayr (2001) offer introductions for general readers, and Hurford (2007) and Tomasello (2008) cover the topic of language evolution. Countless volumes are available for those who want to explore more narrow and/or specialized topics. Currently many universities offer regularly undergraduate and graduate courses in philosophy of biology. Instructors for advanced seminar courses have an impressive range of textbooks to chose from (e.g. Sober 1993; Hull & Ruse 1998, 2007; Sterelny & Griffiths 1999; Matthen & Stephens 2007; Okasha 2007, Sarkar & Plutynski, 2008). Yet, it remains somewhat difficult to find introductory textbooks that appeal to students with no prior knowledge in either biology or philosophy. Garvey (2007) was aimed directly at the introductory level and covered some areas of the field in an accessible manner (for review see Behme, 2008). However, it has been pointed out that “[m]uch of the philosophy of science [is] surprisingly out of touch with recent developments…[and that a] whole range of important biological areas not directly related to evolution are not even mentioned: cell biology, ecology, physiology, immunology, neurobiology and microbiology, as well as newer areas like systems and synthetic biology” (O’Maley & Nicholson, 2008). Hence, a volume that makes these issues accessible at the introductory level is certainly needed and Godfrey-Smith attempts to provide just such a volume. Below I will explain that, in my opinion, he only partly succeeded.

Written in a very accessible style, Philosophy of Biology provides a wide coverage of the central topics and many of the latest developments in the field.  The nine chapters (Philosophy and Biology, [1] Laws, Mechanisms, and Models [2], Evolution and Natural Selection [3], Adaptation, Construction, Function [4], Individuals [5], Genes [6], Species and the Tree of Life [7], Evolution and Social Behavior [8], Information [9]) offer an up-to-date treatment of many important philosophical issues raised by recent work in the biological sciences.

Several chapters clearly are of the quality one would expect from an author of Godfrey-Smith’s stature. For example, chapter two provides an excellent discussion of the commonalities and differences between laws of physics and laws of biology, explaining and applying the concepts of exception-less and probabilistic generalization, regularities and accidents, patterns, predictions, and resilience. “Mendel’s First Law” (p. 12), the “Central Dogma of Molecular Biology” (p. 13), and “Kleiber’s Law” (p. 13) are used as specific examples illustrating the general point that in biology one might “use the term ‘law’ for all patterns that have some resilience, … reserve it for cases that have a great deal, or…think the term should be dropped from biology” (p. 15). Next, Geoffrey-Smith explains that [biological] mechanisms should be seen as “arrangement of parts that produces a more complex set of effects in a whole system in a regular way” (p. 15) and he distinguishes between causal and reductionist description, mechanistic and statistical analysis, organized and aggregative systems, and shows how properties of a system can be explained in bottom up (emergentist) or top down (reductionist) terms. Probably the most valuable part of the chapter is the lucid overview of models. Godfrey-Smith explains the different functions of models and shows which model systems are best suited for different tasks. He highlights the distinction between idealization (“models that make use of deliberate simplification”, p. 21) and abstraction (models “leaving some factors out of a description, Ibid.). Depending on their specific goals researchers may prefer models that cover a wide range of cases, models that apply with great precision to particular cases, or models that make predictions about counterfactual cases. Philosophers need to be aware that especially counterfactual models can “lead to great theoretical creativity, but also to problems” (p. 26).

Several of the other chapters are of similar quality and do not need to be discussed here in detail. Chapters five and seven, however, warrant some critical comments. Introducing the beginning student to “individuals” and “species and the tree of life” might have been a task that could be accomplished on just 14  and 18 pages respectively maybe 30 or 40 years ago. But, given the vast amount of philosophical work on these topics a much fuller and more detailed treatment of even the most important developments would have been desirable for an introductory textbook. Being himself intimately familiar with the subject matter, Godfrey Smith often just touches on developments that must strike anyone with no background knowledge as very counterintuitive. Presumably most students accept something like the “informal folk-biological” definition that an “organism maintains itself – keeps itself alive – and reproduces, makes more things of the same kind” (p. 66). These students may never have encountered any of the ‘puzzle cases’ that are mentioned in short succession leading to the conclusion that it is “reasonable to look for … an evolutionary theory of individuality” (p. 68). The subsection “Darwinian individuals” (pp. 68 – 75) contains in short succession several attempts to define individuals, counter examples to the proposals, new proposals, more counter examples, and concludes with the startling remark: “The evolution of multicellular organisms has partly de-Darwinized the cells that gave rise to them” (p. 75). It is doubtful that students have grasped by now what Darwinian individuals are. Yet, the following section “Living things” (pp. 76 – 80) introduces several concepts challenging ‘Darwinian individuals’ and attempts to answer the question ‘what is the nature of life?’.

Similar problems are found in chapter seven. The search for an adequate species definition has occupied philosophers of biology since On the origin of species (Darwin, 1859). Again, Godfrey-Smith attempts to discuss the results of more than 160 years of at times highly contentious philosophical debate and to cover the many issues that remain unresolved on just a few pages. Biologists among the students may find the section “From typological to phylogenetic views of species” (pp. 100 – 107) easier to comprehend than philosophers. But both groups would have benefitted from a far more detailed discussion of the material covered in the sections “Particulars, properties and kinds” (pp. 108 – 113) and “The tree of life and the origin of species” (pp. 113 – 119). For example, it remained obscure why and how the Internet is similar to (biological) species, especially given that at this point it had not even been established whether species are individuals or sets of neither (p. 113).

It also needs to be said that while the inclusion of a chapter on Information is commendable, the execution was suboptimal. There are several inaccuracies in the explanation of the type/token distinction (pp. 144-145) that could be problematic especially for biologists. Further, Godfrey-Smith discusses many interesting facts about the flow of information in biological systems and about the exchange of information between senders and receivers. But he pays virtually no attention to the massive literature on language evolution. This is regrettable because especially biolinguists would greatly profit from a thorough introduction to the other topics covered in this volume. Overall, The Philosophy of Biology can be recommended mainly as an excellent resource for teachers. They will find an up to date overview of important topics and can rely on the further reading sections to supplement this volume with additional material. Given the complexity of the topics covered in the chapters discussed in the previous paragraphs, it also might be good to eliminate some of these topics from an introductory curriculum and cover them in greater depth in advanced classes. 

 

References:

Behme, C. (2008). Review of Brian Garvey’s Philosophy of Biology. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press. In: Metapsychology Online, August 2008, http://mentalhelp.net/books.

Darwin, C. (1859). On the Origin of Species. London: John Murray.    

Dawkins, R. (2006). The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Garvey, B. (2007) Philosophy of Biology. Acumen Press.

Gould, S. (2002). The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Cambridge: Belknap Press.

Hull, D. (1974). Philosophy of Biological Science. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Hull, D. & Ruse, M. (1998). The Philosophy of Biology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hull, D. & Ruse, M. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Biology. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Hurford, J. (2007). The Origins of Meaning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Matthen, M. and C. Stephens eds. (2007) The Handbook of Philosophy of Biology. Elsevier.

Maynard Smith, J. & Szathmáry, E. (1997). The Major Transitions in Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mayr, E. (2001). What Evolution Is. New York: Basic Books.

O’Malley, M. A.  & D. J. Nicholson (2008). review of Brian Garvey’s Philosophy of Biology. Online: https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/23809-philosophy-of-biology/

Oyama S. (1985). The Ontogeny of Information: Developmental Systems and Evolution. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Ruse, M. (1973). The Philosophy of Biology. London: Hutchinson.

Sarkar, S & A. Plutynski (Editors) (2008). A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology, Wiley-Blackwell, 2008

Sober, E. (1993). Philosophy of Biology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sterelny, K. & Griffiths, P. (1999). Sex and Death: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Biology. University of Chicago Press.

Tomasello, M. (2008). Origins of human communication. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Zimmer, C. (2001). Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea. London: HarperCollins.

 

 

 

 

© 2015 Christina Behme

 

Christina Behme. Ph.D., Philosophy Department, Dalhousie University