Topic: ?Philosophy of Biology. On sex, death, cooperation, cancer, and morality?
In this course, we will consider what biology, and especially the theory of evolution, teaches us about some of life’s biggest questions. We will be especially focused on - arguably surprising - interrelations of the topics mentioned in the title: sex, death, cooperation, cancer, and morality. While pursuing these questions, will also - on a more theoretical side - consider the structure of evolutionary explanations, their application to human psychology and sociology, the notion of a biological individual, and the nature of species.
Textbooks:
LG: Laland, Kevin N., & Brown, Gillian R. (2011). Sense and nonsense: Evolutionary perspectives on human behaviour. Oxford University Press.
SG: Sterelny, Kim, & Griffiths, Peter E. (1999). Sex and death: An introduction to philosophy of biology. University of Chicago press.
Further readings (all available on Fronter):
- Clarke, Ellen (2011). Plant individuality and multilevel selection theory, In: Kim Sterelny and Brett Calcott (eds.), The Major Transitions Revisited, The MIT Press, pp. 227-250
- Clarke, Ellen (2013). The multiple realizability of biological individuals, Journal of Philosophy 110(8): 413-435.
- Dawkins, Richard (1989), Chapter Two: The Replicators, In: The Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press, pp. 12-20
- Gould, Steven J. (1980). Double trouble. In: The panda’s thumb: More reflections in natural history. New York: Norton: pp. 35-47
- Humphrey, Nicholas (1976). The social function of intellect. In: Growing points in ethology (eds. P. P. G. Bateson & R. A. Hinde), Cambridge University Press: 303–317.
- Jablonka, Eva and Lamb, Marion (2006), Chapter Four: Epigenetic Inheritance Systems. In: Evolution in Four Dimensions, Bradford Books, pp. 113-154
- Kitcher, P. (2006). Between Fragile Altruism and Morality: Evolution and the Emergence of Normative Guidance. In: Evolutionary Ethics and Contemporary Biology (Eds. G. Boniolo and G. De Anna), Cambridge University Press: 159-177.
- Kitcher, Phillip. (2007). Does ‘race’have a future?. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 35(4), 293-317
- Lloyd, Elisabeth A. (2009). The case of the female orgasm: Bias in the science of evolution. Harvard University Press. [selections]
- Moll, Henrike, and Tomasello, Michael (2007). Co-operation and human cognition: The Vygotskian intelligence hypothesis. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 362: 639-648.
- Vickers, A. Leah., & Kitcher, Phillip. (2003). Popsociobiology reborn: The evolutionary psychology of sex and violence. In C.B. Travis (ed.), Evolution, gender, and rape, The MIT Press: pp. 139-168.