Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

What philosophy of biology should be

Rosenberg, McShea: Philosophy of biology. A contemporary introduction. Routledge, 2008

  • Published:
Biology & Philosophy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper reviews Rosenberg’s and McShea’s textbook in philosophy of biology, entitled Philosophy of Biology. A Contemporary Introduction. I insist on the excellent quality of this textbook, then I turn to more critical comments, which deal mainly with what philosophy of biology is, and what it should be.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barberousse A, Morange M, Pradeu T (eds) (2009) Mapping the future of biology. Evolving concepts and theories. Springer, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science 266, pp 1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Beurton P, Falk R, Rheinberger H-J (eds) (2000) The concept of the gene in development and evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Brack A (1998) The molecular origins of life: assembling pieces of the puzzle. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brandon R, Rosenberg A (2003) Philosophy of biology. In: Clark P, Hawley K (eds) Philosophy of science today. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Burian R (2005) The epistemology of development, evolution, and genetics: selected essays. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss L (1987) The evolution of individuality. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Callebaut, Laubichler (2007) Editorial: biocomplexity as a challenge for biological theory. Biol Theory 2(1):1–2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craver C (2007) Explaining the brain: mechanisms and the mosaic unity of neuroscience. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Darden L (2006) Reasoning in biological discoveries. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Darden L, Tabery J (2005). Molecular biology. Stanford Encyclopedia in Philosophy (on line)

  • Gilbert SF (2001) Ecological developmental biology: developmental biology meets the real world. Dev Biol 233(1), 1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert SF, Burian R (2006) Developmental genetics. In: Hall BK, Olson WM (eds) Keywords and concepts in evolutionary developmental biology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 68–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert SF, Epel D (2009). Ecological developmental biology. Integrating epigenetics, medicine, and evolution. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Mass

  • Godfrey-Smith P (2000) On the theoretical role of ‘genetic coding’. Philos Sci 67:26–44. doi:10.1086/392760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godfrey-Smith P (2009) Darwinian populations and natural selection. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ, Lewontin R (1979) The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 205:581–598. doi:10.1098/rspb.1979.0086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths PE (2001) Genetic information: a metaphor in search of a theory. Philos Sci 68(3):394–412. doi:10.1086/392891

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths PE (2002) Molecular and developmental biology. In: Machamer P, Silberstein M (eds) The blackwell guide to the philosophy of science. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull D (1969) What philosophy of biology is not. J Hist Biol 2(1):241–268. doi:10.1007/BF00137277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull D (1978) A matter of individuality. Philos Sci 45(3):335–360. doi:10.1086/288811

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull D (1989) The metaphysics of evolution. State University of New York Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull D (1992) Individual. In: Fox-Keller E, Lloyd E (eds) Keywords in evolutionary biology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 181–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull D (2002) Recent philosophy of biology: a review. Acta Biotheor 50:117–128. doi:10.1023/A:1016337212804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull D (2008) The history of the philosophy of biology. In: Ruse (ed) The Oxford handbook of philosophy of biology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 11–33

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jablonka E, Lamb M (1995) Epigenetic inheritance and evolution: the Lamarckian dimension. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Jablonka E, Lamb M (2005) Evolution in four dimensions: genetic, epigenetic, behavioral and symbolic variation in the history of life. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman SA (1993) The origins of order: self-organization and selection in evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Kauffman SA (1995) At home in the universe: the search for laws of self-organization and complexity. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Maclaurin J, Sterelny K (2008) What is biodiversity?. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr E (1969) Footnotes on the philosophy of biology. Philos Sci 36(2):197–202. doi:10.1086/288246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McShea DW (1991) Complexity and evolution: what everybody knows. Biol Philos 6:303–324. doi:10.1007/BF00132234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McShea DW (2005) The evolution of complexity without natural selection, a possible large-scale trend of the fourth kind. Paleobiology 31(2):146–156. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2005)031[0146:TEOCWN]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikkelson GM (2008) Ecology. In: Hull D, Ruse M (eds) The Cambridge companion to the philosophy of biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 372–387

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Morange M (2001) The misunderstood gene. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Morange M (2008) Life explained. Yale University Press, Yale

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller-Wille S (2007) Philosophy of biology beyond evolution. Biol Theory 2(1):111–112. doi:10.1162/biot.2007.2.1.111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odling-Smee J, Laland KN, Feldman MW (2003) Niche Construction: the neglected process in evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Okasha S (2006) Evolution and the levels of selection. Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • O’Malley M, Dupré J (2007) Size doesn’t matter: towards a more inclusive philosophy of biology. Biol Philos 22:155–191. doi:10.1007/s10539-006-9031-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oyama S (2000) The ontogeny of information: developmental systems and evolution. Duke University Press, Duke 1st ed. 1985

    Google Scholar 

  • Plutynski A (2008) Ecology and the environment. In: Ruse M (ed) The Oxford handbook of philosophy of biology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 504–524

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg A (1985) The structure of biological science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg A (1997) Reductionism redux: computing the embryo. Biol Philos 12:445–470. doi:10.1023/A:1006574719901

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg A (2006) Darwinian reductionism. Or, how to stop worrying and love molecular biology. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell B (1960) Bertrand Russell speaks his mind. World Publishing, Cleveland

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarkar S (1996). Biological information: a sceptical look at some central dogmas of molecular biology. In: Sarkar S (ed) The philosophy and history of molecular biology: new perspectives. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science 183. Kluwer, Dordrecht and Boston, pp 187–232

  • Sarkar S (2005) Molecular models of life: philosophical papers on molecular biology. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaffner KF (1992) Theory changes in immunology. Theor Med 13:175–189. doi:10.1007/BF02163627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sober E (2000) Philosophy of biology, 2nd edn. Westview Press, Boulder (First ed. 1993)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterelny K (1995a) Understanding life: recent work in philosophy of biology. Br J Philos Sci 46(2):155–183. doi:10.1093/bjps/46.2.155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sterelny K (1995b) The adapted mind. Biol Philos 10:365–380. doi:10.1007/BF00852474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sterelny K (forthcoming). The fate of the third chimpanzee

  • Sterelny K, Griffiths PE (1999) Sex and death: an introduction to the philosophy of biology. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Tauber AI (1994) The Immune self: theory or metaphor. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge & New York

  • Weber M (2005) Philosophy of experimental biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams P (1991) The Janus-face of philosophy of biology. Biol Philos 6:351–361. doi:10.1007/BF00132237

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

Thanks to Hannah-Louise Clark for her editorial help.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophy Department & Institut d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques (IHPST), Paris-Sorbonne University, Paris, France

    Thomas Pradeu

Authors
  1. Thomas Pradeu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Pradeu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pradeu, T. What philosophy of biology should be. Biol Philos 26, 119–127 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-009-9173-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-009-9173-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation