The Philosophy of Biology An Episodic History [Hardcover]

Examines how the philosophy of biology has evolved to our current understanding.Is life different from the non-living? If so, how? And how, in that case, does biology as the study of living things differ from other sciences? These questions are traced through an exploration of episodes in the history of biology and philosophy.Is life different from the non-living? If so, how? And how, in that case, does biology as the study of living things differ from other sciences? These questions are traced through an exploration of episodes in the history of biology and philosophy.Does life (for the living) differ from that of the non-living? If so, how? And how, in that case, does biology as the study of living things differ from other sciences? These questions are examined through an exploration of episodes in the history of biology and philosophy.1. Aristotle and after; 2. Descartes, Harvey and the emergence of modern mechanism; 3. The eighteenth century: Buffon; 4. The eighteenth century II: Kant the development of German biology; 5. Before Darwin I: A continental controversy; 6. Before Darwin II: British controversies about geology and natural theology; 7. Darwin; 8. Evolution and heredity from Darwin to the rise of genetics; 9. The modern evolutionary synthesis and its discontents; 10. Some themes in recent philosophy of biology: The species problem, reducibility, function and teleology; 11. Biology and human nature; 12. The philosophy of biology and the philosophy of science. This book contains detailed observations and critical reflections that help to clarify the philosophical problems associated with experimental biology. Staying true to his subject matter, the author does not present a 'one size fits all' solution to the philosophy of experimental biology. Similar to experiments, these questions are very much a work in progress. And by showing what we miss if we do not pay attention to these issues, Weber has done us all an enormous service. The Quarterly Review ló[