Biology 5: Philosophy of Biology

This course will introduce you to major topics in the philosophy of biology. Because historically this field has been driven by conceptual issues at the foundations of evolutionary biology, many of the issues considered will concern evolution in some way. No prior knowledge of biology or philosophy is required for this course.

Texts:     David Hull and Michael Ruse, editors. The Philosophy of Biology (Oxford University Press, 1998)

Course Webpage: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dietrich/bio5.html

Course Outline (subject to change):

	DATE	TOPIC	READING
Th	6/23	Course Overview -- The Conceptual Foundations of Biology
T	6/28	Adaptation	Ch 1-2
Th	6/30	Adaptationism	Ch 3-5 Gould & Lewontin
T	7/5	From Developmental Constraint to Evo/Devo	Ch 6-7
Th	7/7	The Problem of Drift	Beatty Millstein
T	7/12	Units of Selection	Ch 8-10
Th	7/14	No Class -- Take Home Exam
T	7/19	Species Concepts	Ch 14-16
Th	7/21	Speciation and Systematics
T	7/26	The Great Species Debate
Th	7/28	Gender, Sex, and Essentialism	Ch 17-20
T	8/2	Evolution and Homosexuality	Ch 21
Th	8/4	The Problem of Altruism	Ch 22-24
T	8/9	EXAM
Th	8/11	Creationism and Intelligent Design	Pennock, Section I
T	8/16	Evolutionary Naturalism	Pennock, Section II
Th	8/18	Intelligent Design Creationism	Pennock, Section IV
T	8/23	Creationism	Pennock, Selections

Assignments and Evaluation

ASSIGNMENT	FORMAT	VALUE	DATES
Exam 1	Take Home Essay	30%	Assigned 7/12; Due 7/19
Group Presentation	In class presentation with peer evaluation	10%	7/26
Exam 2	In Class; Short answer and Essay. Only on material since Exam 1.	30%	8/9
Final Exam	In Class; Short answer and Essay. Comprehensive.	30%	TBA

 

 

Additional Reading:

S. J. Gould and R. Lewontin, "The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme," REPUBLISHED FROM PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, SERIES B, VOL. 205, NO. 1161 (1979), PP. 581-598.

http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/evolution/history/spandrel.shtml

 

J. Beatty, “Chance and Natural Selection,”Philosophy of Science, 51, (1984) 183-211.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0031-8248%28198406%2951%3A2%3C183%3ACANS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C

R. Milllstien, “Are Random Drift and Natural Selection Conceptually Distinct?,” Biology and Philosophy 17 (2002) 33-53.

http://www.kluweronline.com/issn/0169-3867/contents

 

Please note:

Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to speak to me by the end of the second week of the term, all discussions will remain confidential, although the Student Disabilities Coordinator may be consulted to verify the documentation of the disability.