Pence, Charles H. (2021) W.F.R. Weldon Changes His Mind. [Preprint]
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Abstract
A recent debate over the causal foundations of evolutionary theory pits those who believe that natural selection causally explains long-term, adaptive population change against those who do not. In this paper, I argue that this debate – far from being an invention of several articles in 2002 – dates from our very first engagements with evolution as a quantified, statistical science. Further, when we analyze that history, we see that a pivotal figure in the early use of statistical methodology in evolutionary theory, W.F.R. Weldon (1860–1906), changes his mind about precisely the central claim at issue. I close by drawing some morals which I think the case can offer for the contemporary debate going forward.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Keywords: | evolutionary theory; natural selection; causation; statistics; W.F.R. Weldon | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Causation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies |
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| Depositing User: | Charles H. Pence | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 28 May 2021 01:43 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 28 May 2021 01:43 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 19100 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Causation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies |
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| Date: | 25 May 2021 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19100 |
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