Even more FAPPery 8 May 2010 Richard Lewontin reviews FAPP in the New York Review of Books. It is a much more moderate review than many of the other reviews we have linked to. He ends up suggesting that biologists should not speculate on the origins of traits when such speculation is idle. However, like FAPP, he fails to tell us when that is, and is not. Douglas Futuyma on the other hand is much more dismissive in Science, and suggests that being experts in one field doesn’t make them competent in another. I am still wondering what we lose if we abandon the “selection for/selection of” distinction. If we do this, then FAPP’s concern resolves down to: “you can’t get intentionality out of the principle of NS”, which is rather like “you can’t get colour distributions out of a sorting process”; true but trivial. Evolution Philosophy Science EvolutionPhilosophy
History Ill of the dead 8 Mar 20218 Mar 2021 I have found it necessary, in the course of this volume, to speak of the departed; for the misgovernment of the Royal Society has not been wholly the result of even the present race. It is said, and I think with justice, in the life of Young inserted amongst Dr…. Read More
Evolution A nice idea 6 Jun 2009 A nice blog, albeit a bit sporadic, is Evolutionary Noveties by Todd Oakley. He has a post up on coat colour in gray wolves, written by a student. This is a great idea (if I had students this year I’d offer them extra credit for writing blog entries too), and… Read More
Evolution Stein is right: Darwinism causes antisemitism 1 Apr 20084 Oct 2017 I have yet to see the film Expelled, because it hasn’t come to Australia yet, but I have become absolutely convinced that Ben Stein is correct. Darwinism causes antisemitism. I have therefore conveniently listed all the cases known of this below the fold. I’ll stick with those in which Jews… Read More
Please explain how FAPP’s concern would resolve down to: “you can’t get intentionality out of the principle of NS”.