Did Charles Darwin reject the idea that group selection causes characteristics to evolve that are good for the group but bad for the individual? How does Darwin's discussion of God square with the common view of him as the champion of methodological naturalism? These are just some of the intriguing questions raised by distinguished philosopher Elliott Sober in this fine collection of philosophical essays on Darwin. Sober's approach is informed by modern issues in evolutionary biology, but is sensitive to the ways in which Darwin's outlook differed from that of biologists today. Many of the topics covered in this volume - including common ancestry, group selection, sex ratio and naturalism - have rarely been discussed in their connection with Darwin in such detail.
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"Few philosophers of science command the respect that Elliott Sober enjoys for the rigor of his investigations into the logic of evolutionary biology. In his latest, enthralling book he argues that Darwin's theory is best described not as evolution by natural selection but as common ancestry plus natural selection. . . . Accessible, lively, controversial, this is a book full of good things, including a fresh look at Darwin's position on group selection."
John Hedley Brooke, Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion and director of the Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford
"Philosophical essays are frequently enlightening but rarely entertaining. Elliott Sober's Did Darwin Write the "Origin" Backwards? succeeds at being philosophically sophisticated, historically informative, and thoroughly enjoyable. Even readers who think they know their Darwin will learn much from this book."
Ronald L. Numbers, Hilldale Professor of the History of Science and Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison
John Hedley Brooke, Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion and director of the Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford
"Philosophical essays are frequently enlightening but rarely entertaining. Elliott Sober's Did Darwin Write the "Origin" Backwards? succeeds at being philosophically sophisticated, historically informative, and thoroughly enjoyable. Even readers who think they know their Darwin will learn much from this book."
Ronald L. Numbers, Hilldale Professor of the History of Science and Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison
About the Author
Elliott Sober is a professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Wisconsin, and an award-winning author.
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yup, he did!
19 Jan 2012
By Massimo Pigliucci
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
[This is an excerpt from a longer review, soon to appear in Trends in Ecology & Evolution]
Few scientists are conscious of the distinction between the logic of what they write and the rhetoric of how they write it. That is because we are taught to write scientific papers and books from a third person perspective, using as impersonal (and, almost inevitably, boring: Sand-Jensen 2007) a style as possible. The first chapter in Elliot Sober's new book examines the difference between Darwin's logic and his rhetoric in The Origin, and manages to teach some interesting and insightful historical and philosophical lessons while doing so. For instance, from a logical perspective, of Darwin's two conceptual pillars -- the idea of common descent and that of natural selection -- the first should take precedence in the narrative, because one needs historical information in order to test adaptive hypotheses (if only evolutionary psychologists kept this simple tenet constantly in mind they would produce fewer just-so stories and more solid science: Kaplan & Pigliucci 2001). Instead, Darwin begins his book with natural selection and lets the idea of common descent emerge gradually throughout the rest of his magnum opus. Why? Because this "backwards" sequence was rhetorically much more effective, as Sober elegantly demonstrates. Yet another example that Darwin wasn't just a brilliant scientist, he was a cunning one too.
Few scientists are conscious of the distinction between the logic of what they write and the rhetoric of how they write it. That is because we are taught to write scientific papers and books from a third person perspective, using as impersonal (and, almost inevitably, boring: Sand-Jensen 2007) a style as possible. The first chapter in Elliot Sober's new book examines the difference between Darwin's logic and his rhetoric in The Origin, and manages to teach some interesting and insightful historical and philosophical lessons while doing so. For instance, from a logical perspective, of Darwin's two conceptual pillars -- the idea of common descent and that of natural selection -- the first should take precedence in the narrative, because one needs historical information in order to test adaptive hypotheses (if only evolutionary psychologists kept this simple tenet constantly in mind they would produce fewer just-so stories and more solid science: Kaplan & Pigliucci 2001). Instead, Darwin begins his book with natural selection and lets the idea of common descent emerge gradually throughout the rest of his magnum opus. Why? Because this "backwards" sequence was rhetorically much more effective, as Sober elegantly demonstrates. Yet another example that Darwin wasn't just a brilliant scientist, he was a cunning one too.
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