PHI 3452 — Philosophy
of Biology
Class meets
Instructor:
Dr.
Office:
Bldg. 50, Rm. 240
Phone : 474-2676
Dept. Phone: 474-2672
Office Hours: MW 12-2, and by appointment.
E-mail: sallyf@uwf.edu
Web Page: http://www.uwf.edu/sallyf/welcome.htm
Course Overview
This course deals with philosophical issues arising
from evolutionary biology. It begins with a brief overview of the main features
of evolutionary theory. We will discuss the basics of the theory as proposed by
Darwin, as well as ways in which subsequent biology has elaborated Darwin’s
theory. After this preliminary unit, we will examine two conceptual issues
within evolutionary biology. First we will
discuss the “units of selection problem”.
Here the question is whether traits evolve because they are good for the
individual, the group, or the gene. We will also examine how insights from
developmental biology can inform this debate.
Second, we will study the debate over adaptationism. Here the question is how much of nature's
diversity can be explained by appeal to natural selection, and how much should
be attributed to other factors. These questions crucially impact the final unit
of the course, which is the application of evolutionary reasoning to human
behavior, psychology, and culture. To what extent, if any, can human behavior,
on the individual and/or collective scale, be understood from an evolutionary
perspective? We will examine the nature-nurture debate as it is informed by
evolutionary biology, as well as the currently fashionable field of
evolutionary psychology.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students
will enlarge their understanding of the basics of evolutionary theory, the
units of selection debate, the adaptationism debate, and the application of
evolutionary reasoning to human behavior, psychology, culture, and morality.
Grading Policy, Attendance,
Make-ups, etc.
The grade in
this course will be determined on the basis three components: one take-home
midterm (45%), one take-home final (45%), and attendance and class
participation (10%).
I expect each of you to have done
the reading in advance of class, and to be prepared to contribute to the
discussion of the material. There is no excuse for not doing the reading on a
regular basis, and both your performance in class and your enjoyment of class
will suffer if you neglect the assigned reading. In class we will be discussing the issues
raised in the reading, and expanding on them. The exams will focus heavily on
material covered in lectures. Consequently, attendance is mandatory and will be
taken, and this is the reason I have weighted attendance at 10% of the final
grade. It is the responsibility of the
student to make sure he or she has been correctly listed as in attendance in
the event of a late arrival to class. Chronic tardiness, however, is rude and
inconsiderate to the rest of the class and to the instructor. I endeavor to
reach class on time, and you should too. If you have a scheduling conflict,
please discuss it with me.
Unexcused absences are not
permitted. Each unexcused absence will deduct 15 points from your
attendance/participation grade. What this means is that if you miss class once
without an excuse your attendance grade will drop to a B. If you miss class
twice without an excuse, it will become a C-. And so on. What counts as a
legitimate excuse is to some extent at the discretion of the instructor.
However, legitimate excuses include documented illness (of self or dependant),
court appearances, and the like. Make-up exams will only be allowed in cases of
legitimate need, and authentication of excuse (by Dean or medical professional)
will be required.
Each student should retain all of
his or her written work for the course until after receipt of the final grade.
Plagiarism is an extremely serious
issue to me. It strikes at the very heart of the intellectual enterprise in
which we are mutually engaged, and undermines all of our collective efforts. As
a result, I take all suspected cases of plagiarism seriously, and will punish
them to the extent that the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies
and
Briefly,
plagiarism is the failure to accurately and openly provide citations for either the ideas and words used in your written assignments.
This includes lifting quotations without credit from books, magazines, newspapers or other printed material as well as “borrowing”
from the Internet. It also includes presenting ideas as your own when they have
in fact been derived from another source.
The
Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies’ policy on academi
Cheating on
examinations and plagiarism on term papers will not be tolerated. When such
behavior is documented, the instructor will assign an ‘F’ for the course in
which the offense occurred. In particularly flagrant cases, the instructor may
notify the Dean and the student’s major department and additional disciplinary
penalties may be assessed.
In the case
of written work prepared outside the classroom, presentation or paraphrasing
the ideas of others is acceptable provided that the source is acknowledged. Additionally,
the student should comment upon and interpret the ideas that he derives from
others. In principle, it is better to be overly careful in acknowledging the
sources of one’s ideas than to risk the charge of plagiarism.
(Quoted from
The
University’s plagiarism policy can be found in the Student Handbook under
“Expectations for Academic Conduct” (available online at http://www.uwf.edu/uwfmain/stuHandbk/).
More information can be found in the University’s handout on plagiarism titled
“Plagiarism 101”, and from Professor Conroy’s website at
http://uwf.edu/sconroy/Papers/Plagiarism_and_Paraphrasing.htm.
I urge anyone who is unclear about the standards for academi
Required Texts AVAILABLE AT UWF BOOKSTORE
1. Sex and Death, by
2. Sense and Nonsense, by Kevin Laland
& Gillian Brown,
REQUIRED
1. Paul
Griffiths and Russell Gray: "Developmental
Systems and Evolutionary Explanations”
Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 91, no. 6, June 1994.
Available
electronically at
http://www.jstor.org/view/0022362x/di973337/97p0109q/0
2. “The
Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm:
A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme”
by Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin. Available electronically at http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/evolution/history/spandrel.shtml
3. Evolutionary
Psychology: A Primer, by Leda Cosmides and John Tooby.Available
electronically at http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/primer.html
4. “Evolutionary Psychology: An Exchange”, by Stephen Pinker and
Stephen Jay Gould.
Available electronically at
http://www.stephenjaygould.org/reviews/pinker_exchange.html
5. “Why humans value sensational news: An
evolutionary perspective”, by Hank Davis and S. Lyndsay McLeod, Evolution
and Human Behavior, Volume 24,
Issue 3, May 2003 Pages 208-216.
Available electronically at
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10905138
(Follow link to Vol. 24, issue 3. Read the “Full Text + Links” version)
6. “The
Memetic Origin of Language: Modern Humans as Musical Primates”, Mario
Vaneechoutte and John R. Skoyles, Journal
of Memetics, Vol. 2, Issue 2, 1998.
Available
electronically at
http://jom-emit.cfpm.org/1998/vol2/vaneechoutte_m&skoyles_jr.html
7. “The
Evolution of Human Altruism”, by Philip Kitcher, Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 90, Number 10, October, 1993.
Available electronically at http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-362X%28199310%2990%3A10%3C497%3ATEOHA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X
8. “Explaining altruistic behavior in humans”, by Herbert Gintis, Samuel
Bowles, Robert Boyd and Ernst Fehr, Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 24, Issue 3, May 2003, Pages 153-229.
Available electronically at
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10905138
(Follow link
to Vol. 24, issue 3. Read the “Full Text + Links” version)
9. “
Note: Some
of the above links will only work if you are accessing them through a
Class Schedule
(Students are responsible for keeping track of any changes announced in class.)
Topic 1. Introduction to
philosophy of evolution and structure of course.
Topic 2. Basics of evolutionary theory
Topic 3: Units of selection: the gene’s-eye view
Topic 4: Units of selection: the challenge from
developmental biology.
1.
2.
Griffiths and
Gray: "Developmental
Systems and Evolutionary Explanations", available electronically at http://www.jstor.org/view/0022362x/di973337/97p0109q/0
Topic 5: Adaptationism
Topic 6: The
Topic 7: Applying evolutionary reasoning to human
behavior: an introduction.
Reading:
Laland & Brown, ch. 1-3.
Topic 8: Evolutionary
Psychology
Topic 9:
Memetics and the evolution of culture
Topic 10:
Evolution of Morality
1. “The Evolution of Human Altruism”, by Philip Kitcher, Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 90, Number
10, October, 1993.
Available
electronically at http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-362X%28199310%2990%3A10%3C497%3ATEOHA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X
2. “Explaining altruistic behavior in humans”, by Herbert Gintis, Samuel Bowles, Robert Boyd and Ernst Fehr, Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 24, Issue 3, May 2003, Pages 153-229. Available electronically at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10905138 (Follow link to Vol. 24, issue 3.
Read the “Full Text + Links” version.)
Wednesday,
Sept. 22, Friday, Sept. 24, and Monday, Sept. 27: Instructor out of town at
conference.