Philosophers of biology generally recognize that evolutionary fitness (roughly, an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its environment) is multiply realizable. — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
The big picture, I think, is that common ancestry is evidentially prior to natural selection in Darwin's theory and in contemporary evolutionary… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Creationists have long held that evolutionary theory is atheistic; defenders of the theory do the theory no favor when they agree. — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Our own species evolved under the influence of group selection, as Darwin emphasized when he discussed the evolution of altruism. — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
I don't endorse deism or interventionist theism. My point is just that evolutionary biology is logically compatible with the former and with… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
I disagree with those who argue that evolutionary biology and the existence of God are incompatible. — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Current organisms have a higher probability of sharing a single code if the common ancestry hypothesis is true than they'd have if… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
The rabid opposition to group selection has now considerably subsided. In the process, the conceptual structure of evolutionary theory has become clearer,… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
If the organisms in a species now have trait T, and this trait now helps those organisms to survive and reproduce because… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
I think that some "interventionist theisms" are compatible with evolutionary theory. (By "intervention," I don't mean that God violates laws of nature;… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
This is not to deny that there are versions of theism that do conflict with evolutionary biology. Young Earth Creationism is an… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Trait X is fitter than trait Y in a population of organisms if those organisms have other biological traits T and live… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
I have spent a lot of time arguing that the theory of group selection is not the stupid, pernicious doctrine that many… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
"Tiger is a natural kind" and "Tiger is a historical particular" are incompatible with each other, and evolutionary biology provides a reason… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Evolutionary biologists often appeal to parsimony when they seek to explain why organisms "match" with respect to a given trait. For example,… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Group selection and individual selection are just two of the selection processes that have played important roles in evolution. There also is… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
The more evolutionary theory gets called an atheistic theory, the greater the risk that it will lose its place in public school… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Darwin and his successors have railed against the fallacy of confusing the current utility of a trait with the reason the trait… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Evolutionary theory, properly understood, does not conflict with the idea that God occasionally intervenes in nature - for example, by once or… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Another way to test hypotheses about adaptation is to consider trait variation across a group of species instead of focusing on the… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
“What I should have said is that he thinks that there is a conflict between evolutionary biology and theism. Dennett thinks that… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Darwin repeatedly used the hypothesis of common ancestry as a platform on which to build his various ideas about testing hypotheses concerning… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
From the fact that E is evidence for T and the fact that T entails M, it doesn't follow that E is evidence for… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Evolutionary game theory was originally developed as an alternative to the hypothesis of group selection; now it is clear that game theory models postulate… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Earlier attempts to show that simpler theories always have higher prior probabilities have failed, but there is a restricted circumstance in which the claim… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
"Methodological naturalism" and "metaphysical naturalism" are terms that often surface in the continuing battle between evolutionary biology and creationism/intelligent design. The methodological thesis says… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
The big picture, I think, is that common ancestry is evidentially prior to natural selection in Darwin's theory and in contemporary evolutionary biology as… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
This is not to deny that there are versions of theism that do conflict with evolutionary biology. Young Earth Creationism is an example; it… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Some philosophical arguments (e.g., in connection with the mind/body problem) look pretty good, while others (e.g., those that criticize moral realism) do not. — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
I have spent a lot of time arguing that the theory of group selection is not the stupid, pernicious doctrine that many biologists once… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Group selection and individual selection are just two of the selection processes that have played important roles in evolution. There also is selection within… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
Instead of thinking of the question of race genealogically, and leaving it open whether vernacular races are genealogical units, the interest in biomedicine has… — Elliott Sober Copy Share Image
