Evidence and Evolution: The Logic Behind the Science

ISBN-13: 9780521871884 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 392 str.

Elliott Sober

Opis

How should the concept of evidence be understood? And how does the concept of evidence apply to the controversy about creationism as well as to work in evolutionary biology about natural selection and common ancestry? In this rich and wide-ranging book, Elliott Sober investigates general questions about probability and evidence and shows how the answers he develops to those questions apply to the specifics of evolutionary biology. Drawing on a set of fascinating examples, he analyzes whether claims about intelligent design are untestable; whether they are discredited by the fact that many adaptations are imperfect; how evidence bears on whether present species trace back to common ancestors; how hypotheses about natural selection can be tested, and many other issues. His book will interest all readers who want to understand philosophical questions about evidence and evolution, as they arise both in Darwin's work and in contemporary biological research.

Recenzje

'… one of the most - if not the most - in depth analyses of the relationship between statistical reasoning and evidence in evolutionary biology. Indeed, the book should be read by everyone with a serious interest in evolutionary biology, in the philosophy of biology and in scientific inference more generally. … Sober has written a remarkable and remarkably important book.' History of Philosophy of Life Sciences

Spis treści

Preface; 1. Evidence; 2. Intelligent design; 3. Natural selection; 4. Common ancestry; Conclusion; References; Index.