Darwinism in Philosophy, Social Science and Policy (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology)

A collection of essays by Alexander Rosenberg, the distinguished philosopher of science. The essays cover three broad areas related to Darwinian thought and naturalism: the first deals with the solution of philosophical problems such as reductionism, the second with the development of social theories, and the third with the intersection of evolutionary biology with economics, political philosophy, and public policy. Specific papers deal with naturalistic epistemology, the limits of reductionism, the biological justification of ethics, the so-called 'trolley problem' in moral philosophy, the political philosophy of biological endowments, and the Human Genome Project and its implications for policy. Rosenberg's important writings on a variety of issues are here organized into a coherent philosophical framework which promises to be a significant and controversial contribution to scholarship in many areas. How Much Can Darwinian Mechanisms Account For Human Values, The Character Of Social Institutions And The Justification Of Our Claims To Knowledge In The Sciences? Alexander Rosenberg, Explores These Questions And Their Ramifications In This Collection Of Papers. The Book Will Be Of Interest To Students And Professionals In The Philosophy Of Science And The Application Of Evolutionary Biology To Social Science And Policy.--jacket. A Field Guide To Recent Species Of Naturalism -- Naturalistic Epistemology For Eliminative Materialists -- Limits To Biological Knowledge -- Reductionism Redux : Computing The Embryo -- What Happens To Genetics When Holism Runs Amok? -- The Biological Justification Of Ethics : A Best-case Scenario -- Moral Realism And Soical Science -- Contractarianism And The Trolley Problem -- Does Evolutionary Theory Give Comfort Or Inspiration To Economics? -- The Political Philosophy Of Biological Endowments : Some Considerations -- Research Tactics And Economic Strategies : The Case Of The Human Genome Project. Alexander Rosenberg. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 243-247) And Index. Extending the human life-span past 120 years. The "green" revolution. Evolution and human psychology. These subjects make today's newspaper headlines. Yet much of the science underlying these topics stems from a book published nearly 140 years ago--Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Far from an antique idea restricted to the nineteenth century, the theory of evolution is one of the most potent concepts in all of modern science. In Darwin's Spectre, Michael Rose provides the general reader with an introduction to the theory of evolution: its beginning with Darwin, its key concepts, and how it may affect us in the future. First comes a brief biographical sketch of Darwin. Next, Rose gives a primer on the three most important concepts in evolutionary theory--variation, selection, and adaptation. With a firm grasp of these concepts, the reader is ready to look at modern applications of evolutionary theory. Discussing agriculture, Rose shows how even before Darwin farmers and ranchers unknowingly Experimented with evolution. Medical research, however, has ignored Darwin's lessons until recently, with potentially grave consequences. Finally, evolution supplies important new vantage points on human nature. If humans weren't created by deities, then our nature may be determined more by evolution than we have understood. Or it may not be. In this question, as in many others, the Darwinian perspective is one of the most important for understanding human affairs in the modern world. Darwin's Spectre explains how evolutionary biology has been used to support both valuable applied research, particularly in agriculture, and truly frightening objectives, such as Nazi eugenics. Darwin's legacy has been a comfort and a scourge. But it has never been irrelevant

This is a groundbreaking and timely collection of papers by Alexander Rosenberg, the distinguished philosopher of science. The essays cover three broad areas related to Darwinian thought and naturalism: the first deals with the solution of philosophical problems such as reductionism, the second with the development of social theories, and the third with the intersection of evolutionary biology with economics, political philosophy, and public policy. Rosenberg's important writings on a variety of issues are here organized into a coherent philosophical framework that promises to be a significant and controversial contribution to the philosophy of science and the application of evolutionary biology to social science and policy.