Reading Group
The 'Representing Evolution' reading group takes place bi-weekly at the University of Bristol
First Meeting
Veit, W. Complexity and the Evolution of Consciousness. Biol Theory (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-022-00407-z
Second Meeting
Okasha, S. Goal Attributions in Biology: Objective Fact, Anthropomorphic Bias, or Valuable Heuristic? (Forthcoming)
Third Meeting
Suárez, M. (2010). Scientific representation. Philosophy Compass, 5(1), 91-101. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2009.00261.x
Fourth Meeting
Godfrey-Smith, P. (2006). The strategy of model-based science. Biology and Philosophy, 21(5), 725-740. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10539-006-9054-6.
Fifth Meeting
Picturing Weismannism: A Case Study of Conceptual Evolution
by Griesemer and Wimsatt
Sixth Meeting
Olson, M. E., Arroyo-Santos, A., & Vergara-Silva, F. (2019). A user’s guide to metaphors in ecology and evolution. Trends in ecology & evolution, 34(7), 605-615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.03.001
Seventh Meeting
Cognitive bias (article by Varella, M.A.C. (2018) “The Biology and Evolution of the Three Psychological Tendencies to Anthropomorphize Biology and Evolution”, Frontiers in Psychology 9, 1839
Eighth Meeting
Gonzalez Galli, L. M. and Meinardi, E. N. (2011) “The Role of Teleological Thinking in Learning the Darwinian Model of Evolution”, Evolution: Education and Outreach 4, 145–152. https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s12052-010-0272-7
Ninth Meeting
“Two-Thousand Years of Stasis”: How Psychological Essentialism Impedes Evolutionary Understanding by Susan A. Gelman and Marjorie Rhodes. https://academic.oup.com/book/12041/chapter/161342831
Tenth Meeting
-Sober, Elliott. 2001. “The Two Faces of Fitness.” In Thinking about Evolution: Historical, Philosophical, and Political Perspectives volume 2
-Hansen TF. On the definition and measurement of fitness in finite populations. J Theor Biol. 2017 Apr 21;419:36-43. doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2016.12.024
Eleventh Meeting
G. Wagner, The Measurement Theory of Fitness. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00909.x
Twelfth Meeting
J. Brommer, "The Evolution of Fitness in Life-History Theory" (attached).
Thirteenth Meeting
Abrams M (2012) Measured, modeled, and causal conceptions of fitness. Front. Gene. 3:196. doi:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2012.00196/full
Fourteenth Meeting
Sterelny, K. (2017). Cultural evolution in California and Paris. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 62, 42–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2016.12.005
Fifteenth Meeting
Lewens, Tim, 'What is Cultural Evolutionary Theory?', Chapter 1 Cultural Evolution: Conceptual Challenges (Oxford, 2015; online edn, Oxford Academic, 17 Sept. 2015), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199674183.003.0002
Sixteenth Meeting
Godfrey-Smith, Peter, 'Cultural Evolution', Chapter 8 Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection (Oxford, 2009), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199552047.003.0008
Seventeenth Meeting
Heyes, C. (2020). Culture. Current Biology, 30(20), R12460-R1250.
Eighteenth Meeting
Creanza, N,. Kolodny, O., & Feldman, M. W. (2017). Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(30), 7782-7789. https://doi.org.10.1073/pnas.1620732114
Nineteenth Meeting
Smith D. Cultural group selection and human cooperation: a conceptual and empirical review. Evolutionary Human Sciences. 2020;2e2. doi:10.1017/ehs.2020.2
Twentieth Meeting
O'Brien, M. J., & Lymn, R. L. (2002). Evolutionary archeology: Current status and future prospects. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News and Reviews, 11(1), 26-36. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.10007
Twenty-first Meeting
Waters, C. K. (2007). Causes that Make a Difference. The Journal of Philosophy, 104(11), 551-579. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20620058
Twenty-second Meeting
Woodward, J. (2010), Causation in biology: Stability, specificity and the choice of levels of explanation. Biology and Philosophy, 25(3), 287-318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-010-9200-z
Twenty-third Meeting
Pain, R., & Planer, R. Explaining Transitions in Human Behavioural Evolution: An Interventionist Perspective (draft)
Twenty-fourth Meeting
Ross, L. N. (2021). Causal Concepts in Biology: How Pathways Differ from Mechanisms and Why It Matters. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 72(1), 131-158. https://doi.org/10.1093/bips/axy078
Twenty-fifth Meeting
Otsuka, J. (2015). Using causal models to integrate proximate and ultimate causation. Biology & Philosophy, 30(1), 19-37. https://doi.org.10.1007.s10539-014-9448-9
Talks
Talks from members of the 'Representing Evolution' project
Samir Okasha
“The Fitness Concept in Evolutionary Biology: a philosophy of science approach”, The Fitness Concept in Evolutionary Biology Workshop, University of Bristol. 27th March 2024,
Ross Pain
“Comparative Cognitive Archaeology”. ECR Workshop on Animal Minds, London School of Economics. 17th of April, 2024
Samir Okasha
“Individuals versus Groups”, Darwin Week, University of Exeter, Falmouth (plenary speaker). 16th Feb 2024,
Samir Okasha
“Major Transitions in Evolution: a philosophy of science perspective”, University of Exeter, Falmouth. 15th Feb 2024,
Ross Pain
“Hierarchical Cognition and the Evolution of Syntax”. Origins of Syntax workshop, University of Warwick. 13th of December, 2023
Samir Okasha
"On the use of intentional vocabulary in evolutionary biology", Reasons for Action in Non-Human Animals Workshop, University of Leuve. 15th September 2023
Ross Pain
“From Tool Morphology to Cognitive Capacity: a Trait-Based Methodology for Cognitive Archaeology”. International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology Biannual Conference, University of Toronto. “10th of July 2023
Samir Okasha
“The Major Transitions in Evolution: a philosophy of science perspective”, British Society for the Philosophy of Science Annual Conference, University of Bristol. 7th July 2023
Samir Okasha
“The Concept of Agency in Biology: meanings and motivations”, Agency and Life workshop, Syros, Greece. 5th July 2023
Ross Pain
“Major Transitions in Cultural Evolution?” (with Arsham Nejad Kourki). British Society for the Philosophy of Science Annual Conference, University of Bristol. 6th of July 2023
Samir Okasha
“Evolution and Natural Selection: the tautology problem revisited”, 4th Lisbon International Conference on Philosophy of Science (LICPOS 2023), University of Lisbon, Portugal (keynote speaker). 4th July 2023
Samir Okasha
“Evolution, Rationality and Fairness”, Fairness workshop, University of York. 22nd June 2023
Ross Pain
“Causation and Explanation in Palaeoarchaeology” (with Ron Planer). Past Materials, Past Minds workshop, University of Exeter. “12th of June 2023
Samir Okasha
“Function in the Light of Frequency-Dependent Selection”, University of Sydney. 6th April 2023
Samir Okasha
"Does the Anti-Essentialist Consensus in Philosophy of Biology Rest on a Mistake”, Department of Philosophy, University of Sydney. 3rd April 2023
Samir Okasha
“The Major Transitions in Evolution: a philosophy of science perspective”, Major Transitions in Culture and Biology Workshop, University of Bristol. 27th March 2023
Walter Veit
"Animals, Compassion and Conservation
Ethics and Scientific Methods Relating to Wild Animals, Their Welfare and Conservation"
7th-9th of February 2023
Talk "Counting positive wild animal welfare" by Dr. Heather Browning and Dr. Walter Veit
Samir Okasha
Samir Okasha, Feb 2nd 2023, The Significance of Mendelism for Evolutionary Theory", Mendel at 200 webinar series, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol University. https://www.bristol.ac.uk/integrative-epidemiology/seminars/mendel_200/mendel-at-200-webinars/
Video of the talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OSAq0opYSs
Samir Okasha
“The Significance of Mendelism for Evolutionary Theory”, Bristol MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol. 2nd February 202
Samir Okasha
“Should cancer be viewed through the lens of social evolution theory?"
https://www.philinbiomed.org/event/arcachon-cancer-and-evolution/:
Samir Okasha
"Cancer, Causality and Evolution: some reflections on Anya Plutynski's Understanding Cancer", LSE Lakatos Workshop. 1st November 2022
Samir Okasha
“Should cancer be viewed through the lens of social evolution?”, Cancer and Evolution conference, Arcachon, France. 7th October 2022
Samir Okasha
“Devitt on Biological Essentialism”, Society for Metaphysics in Science (plenary talk), University of Bristol. 6th September 2022
Samir Okasha
“Function in the Light of Frequency-Dependent Selection”, British Society for Philosophy of Science Annual Conference, Exeter. 8th July 2022,
Samir Okasha
“The Metaphor of Agency in Biology”, Ruhr University Bochum, The Riddle of Organismal Agency. 24th March 2022
Samir Okasha
“On the Use of Psychological Vocabulary in Evolutionary Biology”, Kinds of Intelligence conference, Cambridge. 21st January 2022
Samir Okasha
“Is there a Bayesian Justification of Hypothetico-Deductive Inference?”, Bergen Philosophy of Science conference. 14th November 2021
Samir Okasha
“Can Science be Objective”, Bristol Inclusive Research Forum. 13th October 2021
Samir Okasha
“Methodological Individualism in Evolutionary Biology”, Oxford University Biological Society, St. Catherine’s College, Oxford. 21st October 2021
Samir Okasha
“Scepticism, Evidential Holism and the Logic of Demonic Deception”, Oxford University Philosophy Society. 22nd October 2021
Samir Okasha
“Scepticism, Evidential Holism and the Logic of Demonic Deception”, Oxford University Philosophy Society. 22nd October 2021
Samir Okasha
“Scepticism, Evidential Holism and the Logic of Demonic Deception”, Aberdeen Philosophy departmental talk. 15th December 2021
Walter Veit
"Life history theory as the teleonomic theory of the organism"
Workshop: The fitness concept in evolutionary biology: philosophical and scientific aspects. 27th an
Overview: Fitness is one of the most fundamental concepts in evolutionary biology, as it is intimately connected with evolution by natural selection. Despite this, the fitness concept is rather elusive, as a number of authors have noted, seemingly lacking a fully general, precise definition. Indeed, it is unclear whether it is right to speak of a single fitness concept at all. There is a large literature in evolutionary biology dealing with how fitness should be defined in different circumstances, and a parallel literature on fitness in philosophy of biology. However these two literatures are less well integrated than they should be. The aim of this workshop is to further the integration.
Speakers
Hanna Kokko (Zurich)
Alan Grafen (Oxford)
Samir Okasha (Bristol)
Bengt Autzen (Cork)
Grant Ramsey (Leuven)
Ellen Clarke (Leeds)
Sean Rice (Texas Tech)
Andy Gardner (St Andrews)
John McNamara (Bristol)
Mauricio Suarez (Madrid)
Hannah Rubin (Missouri)
Thomas Hansen (Oslo)
Marshall Abrams (Birmingham, Alabama)
Workshop: Major transitions in culture and biology. 27th and 28th March 2023. Clifton Hill House.
Since its original conception in the mid-90s (Maynard Smith and Szathmary 1995) the idea of major evolutionary transitions has undergone evolutionary trajectories of its own. While the original formulation targeted a conjunction of events where new units of organisation evolve out of pre-existing ones, and events and where new modes of transferring information across generations evolve (Szathmáry 2015), later formulations have tended to be more coherent in explanatory targets as well as explanatory models, at the cost of scope. Particularly representative here is the derived concept of Evolutionary Transitions in Individuality, which focuses on the evolution of new biological individuals from pre-existing ones (Michod and Herron 2006, Bourke 2011, Calcott and Sterelny 2011, Birch 2017, Okasha 2022) and the closely-related debate around what biological individuality is (Clarke 2010, Pradeu 2016). This remains a lively area of debate within theoretical biology and philosophy of biology, and it continues to inspire similar research outside the realm of biology.
The purpose of this workshop was to stimulate discussion on the topic of major transitions in cultural evolutionary theory (Jablonka and Lamb 2006, Hodgson and Knudsen 2010, Waring and Wood 2021). While the prospects of applying the major transitions framework seem promising, given increasing hierarchical complexity in sociocultural systems over the course of their evolutionary histories, the approach faces challenges. For instance, how should we understand the central concepts of major transitions in biology? How do (or can) these concepts apply in the case of sociocultural processes? What explanatory benefits does major transition thinking offer in biology, and do these benefits transfer when applied to culture? The aim was to interrogate issues in major transitions thinking in biology, and assess the prospects of applying this thinking to sociocultural change.
Speakers:
Samir Okasha
Ross Pain and Christine Balasa
Arsham Nejad Kourki
Richard Moore
Eva Jablonka
Tim Waring
Azita Chellappoo
Adrian Currie and Tyler Brunet
Daniel Lawson
Rachael Brown
Maureen O'Malley
Matthew Herron
David Harrison
Ellen Clarke
Ceri Shipton
Monique Borgerhoff-Mulder
Our Partners
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement number 101018533). All project outputs are published Open Access.
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