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Explaining Evolutionary Innovations and Novelties: Criteria of Explanatory Adequacy and Epistemological Prerequisites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Alan C. Love
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Abstract

It is a common complaint that antireductionist arguments are primarily negative. Here I describe an alternative nonreductionist epistemology based on considerations taken from multidisciplinary research in biology. The core of this framework consists in seeing investigation as coordinated around sets of problems (problem agendas) that have associated criteria of explanatory adequacy. These ideas are developed in a case study, the explanation of evolutionary innovations and novelties, which demonstrates the applicability and fruitfulness of this nonreductionist epistemological perspective. This account also bears on questions of conceptual change and theory structure in philosophy of science.

Type
Evolutionary Innovation and Novelties
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 75 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2006 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association. Part II: Symposia Papers. Edited by Cristina Bicchieri and Jason Alexander , December 2008 , pp. 874 - 886
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

Mark Borrello, Ric Otte, Ken Waters, and Marcel Weber provided useful criticism and suggestions on earlier versions of this paper. I am indebted to many individuals who commented on portions of my doctoral dissertation, from which this paper is developed. Thanks also to questions and comments from the various participants in the session at PSA 2006 in Vancouver and to Jonathan Kaplan for organizing the symposium.

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