Agents and Goals in Evolution

2018-06-12 Philosophy

Author : Samir Okasha
Release : 2018-06-12
Genre : Philosophy
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 732/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Agents and Goals in Evolution by : Samir Okasha

Download or read book Agents and Goals in Evolution written by Samir Okasha. This book was released on 2018-06-12. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Samir Okasha approaches evolutionary biology from a philosophical perspective in Agents and Goals in Evolution, analysing a mode of thinking in biology called agential thinking. He considers how the paradigm case involves treating an evolved organism as if it were an agent pursuing a goal, such as survival or reproduction, and seeing its phenotypic traits as strategies for achieving that goal or furthering its biological interests. As agential thinking deliberately transposes a set of concepts--goals, interests, strategies--from rational human agents and to the biological world more generally, Okasha's enquiry firstly looks at the justification for this: is it mere anthropomorphism, or does it play a genuine intellectual role in the science? From this central question, key points are considered such as: how do we identify the 'goal' that evolved organisms will behave as if they are trying to achieve? Can agential thinking ever be applied to groups rather than to individual organisms? And how does agential thinking relate to the controversies over fitness-maximization in evolutionary biology? In addition, Okasha examines the relation between the adaptive and the rational by considering whether organisms can validly be treated as agent-like. Should we expect their evolved behaviour to correspond with that of rational agents as codified in the theory of rational choice? If so, does this mean that the fitness-maximizing paradigm of the evolutionary biologist can be mapped directly to the utility-maximizing paradigm of the rational choice theorist? All of these important questions are engagingly raised and discussed at length.

The Evolution of Agency

2022-09-06 Science

Author : Michael Tomasello
Release : 2022-09-06
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 212/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Evolution of Agency by : Michael Tomasello

Download or read book The Evolution of Agency written by Michael Tomasello. This book was released on 2022-09-06. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A leading developmental psychologist proposes an evolutionary pathway to human psychological agency. Nature cannot build organisms biologically prepared for every contingency they might possibly encounter. Instead, Nature builds some organisms to function as feedback control systems that pursue goals, make informed behavioral decisions about how best to pursue those goals in the current situation, and then monitor behavioral execution for effectiveness. Nature builds psychological agents. In a bold new theoretical proposal, Michael Tomasello advances a typology of the main forms of psychological agency that emerged on the evolutionary pathway to human beings. Tomasello outlines four main types of psychological agency and describes them in evolutionary order of emergence. First was the goal-directed agency of ancient vertebrates, then came the intentional agency of ancient mammals, followed by the rational agency of ancient great apes, ending finally in the socially normative agency of ancient humans. Each new form of psychological organization represented increased complexity in the planning, decision-making, and executive control of behavior. Each also led to new types of experience of the environment and, in some cases, of the organism’s own psychological functioning, leading ultimately to humans’ experience of an objective and normative world that governs all of their thoughts and actions. Together, these proposals constitute a new theoretical framework that both broadens and deepens current approaches in evolutionary psychology.

Organisms, Agency, and Evolution

2015-11-13 History

Author : D. M. Walsh
Release : 2015-11-13
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 104/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Organisms, Agency, and Evolution by : D. M. Walsh

Download or read book Organisms, Agency, and Evolution written by D. M. Walsh. This book was released on 2015-11-13. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that evolution arises from the activities of organisms as agents, not from the replication of genes.

Evolution and the Levels of Selection

2006-11-16 Philosophy

Author : Samir Okasha
Release : 2006-11-16
Genre : Philosophy
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 979/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Evolution and the Levels of Selection by : Samir Okasha

Download or read book Evolution and the Levels of Selection written by Samir Okasha. This book was released on 2006-11-16. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does natural selection act primarily on individual organisms, on groups, on genes, or on whole species? Samir Okasha provides a comprehensive analysis of the debate in evolutionary biology over the levels of selection, focusing on conceptual, philosophical and foundational questions. A systematic framework is developed for thinking about natural selection acting at multiple levels of the biological hierarchy; the framework is then used to help resolve outstanding issues. Considerable attention is paid to the concept of causality as it relates to the levels of selection, in particular the idea that natural selection at one hierarchical level can have effects that 'filter' up or down to other levels. Unlike previous work in this area by philosophers of science, full account is taken of the recent biological literature on 'major evolutionary transitions' and the recent resurgence of interest in multi-level selection theory among biologists. Other biological topics discussed include Price's equation, kin and group selection, the gene's eye view, evolutionary game theory, outlaws and selfish genetic elements, species and clade selection, and the evolution of individuality. Philosophical topics discussed include reductionism and holism, causation and correlation, the nature of hierarchical organization, and realism and pluralism.

The Selfish Gene

1989 Medical

Author : Richard Dawkins
Release : 1989
Genre : Medical
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 927/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Selfish Gene by : Richard Dawkins

Download or read book The Selfish Gene written by Richard Dawkins. This book was released on 1989. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science need not be dull and bogged down by jargon, as Richard Dawkins proves in this entertaining look at evolution. The themes he takes up are the concepts of altruistic and selfish behaviour; the genetical definition of selfish interest; the evolution of aggressive behaviour; kinshiptheory; sex ratio theory; reciprocal altruism; deceit; and the natural selection of sex differences. 'Should be read, can be read by almost anyone. It describes with great skill a new face of the theory of evolution.' W.D. Hamilton, Science

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