Categories Quote by Elliott Sober

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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

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

Deism is compatible with evolutionary theory.

— Elliott Sober

"Simpler is always better" is an overstatement.

— Elliott Sober

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

If the organisms in a species now have trait T, and this trait now helps those organisms to survive and reproduce because the trait…

— Elliott Sober