Explores a variety of outcomes of the evolutionary process, including both adaptations and alternatives to adaptations. Also explores how the concept of adaptation is used in evolutionary psychology and in animal behavior, and the adequacy of methods used to confirm evolutionary accounts of human traits and behaviors.
Why women evolved to have orgasms - when most of their primate relatives don't - is a persistent mystery among evolutionary biologists. In pursuing this mystery, this book arrives at another: how could anything as inadequate as the evolutionary explanations of the female orgasm have passed muster as science?
Focusing on key issues in the philosophy of biology, the book critiques prevailing theories and encourages re-evaluation of established concepts. It delves into fundamental questions, pushing the boundaries of current thought and inviting readers to reconsider the implications of biological theories. Through rigorous analysis, it aims to foster a deeper understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of biology.
'Unit of selection' is a polysemic expression, meaning interactor, replicator/reproducer or manifestor of adaptation/type-1 agent in today's biological research. This Element presents each of these concepts and demonstrates the necessity of their isolation.