|
Abstract:
|
Some writers have urged that evolutionary theory produces generalizations that hold
only ceteris paribus, that is, provided "everything else is equal." Others have claimed
that all laws in the special sciences, or even all laws in science generally, hold only
ceteris paribus. However, if we lack a way to determine when everything else really is
equal, hedging generalizations with the phrase "ceteris paribus" renders those generalizations
vacuous. In what follows, I propose a solution to this problem for the case
of causal equations from classical population genetics. My proviso is generated on the
basis of a couple of conceptual maneuvers, "tricks," which should be usable elsewhere
too. |