Clarke, E orcid.org/0000-0003-1839-6405 (2016) A levels-of-selection approach to evolutionary individuality. Biology & Philosophy, 31 (6). pp. 893-911. ISSN 0169-3867
Abstract
What changes when an evolutionary transition in individuality takes place? Many different answers have been given, in respect of different cases of actual transition, but some have suggested a general answer: that a major transition is a change in the extent to which selection acts at one hierarchical level rather than another. The current paper evaluates some different ways to develop this general answer as a way to characterise the property ‘evolutionary individuality’; and offers a justification of the option taken in Clarke (J Philos 110(8):413–435, 2013)—to define evolutionary individuality in terms of an object’s capacity to undergo selection at its own level. In addition, I suggest a method by which the property can be measured and argue that a problem which is often considered to be fatal to that method—the problem of ‘cross-level by-products’—can be avoided.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2016, Spring Science+Business Media Dordrecht. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Biology & Philosophy. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-016-9540-4 |
Keywords: | Levels of selection; Evolutionary individuality; Major transitions |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 24 Feb 2017 11:13 |
Last Modified: | 17 Oct 2017 17:35 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-016-9540-4 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10539-016-9540-4 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:112737 |