Major and minor groups in evolution

Kerr and Godfrey-Smith argue that two mathematically equivalent, alternative formal representations drawn from population genetics, the contextualist and collectivist formalisms, may be equally good for quantifying the dynamics of some natural systems, despite important differences between the formalisms. I draw on constraints on causal representation from Woodward (Making things happen, Oxford University Press, New York, 2003) and Eberhardt and Scheines (Philos Sci 74(5):981–995, 2006) to argue that one or the other formalism will be superior for arbitrary natural systems in which individuals form different types of groups.

Title	Major and minor groups in evolution
Creator	Gildenhuys, Peter
Publisher	Biology and Philosophy
Academic Department	Philosophy
Division	Humanities
Organization	Lafayette College
Date Issued	January 2014
Date Available	2014-12-29T20:39:50Z
Type	Article
Language	English
Keyword	Evolutionary theory
	Multilevel selection
	Genic pluralism
	Population genetics
	Group selection
Bibliographic Citation	Gildenhuys, P. (2014 Jan.) "Major and minor groups in evolution." Biology and Philosophy 29 (1): 1-32.
Standard Identifier	Handle 10385/1557
Standard Identifier	DOI 10.1007/s10539-013-9381-3
Permalink	http://hdl.handle.net/10385/1557
Rights Statement	In Copyright
Rights Holders	Springer Science+Business Media