Jeler, Ciprian (2024) Trait-centered vs. fitness-centered definitions of natural selection. [Preprint]

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Abstract

During the past few decades, fitness-centered and trait-centered definitions of natural selection have coexisted in the philosophical literature. The former render natural selection definitionally dependent on the presence of fitness differences, where “fitness” is understood as a distinct property from actual reproductive success. On the other hand, trait-centered definitions see selection as definitionally dependent on the presence of a causal relation between a trait (not necessarily fitness) and reproductive success. Interestingly, endorsers of these definitions have rarely – and usually only cursorily – critically engaged the views of the other camp. Therefore, a critical comparison of the two kinds of definitions is lacking in the literature. This paper starts filling this void by opening a discussion about which of the two kinds of definition is more appropriate. I first argue that fitness-centered definitions have difficulties in accommodating cases of opposing selection on correlated traits, whereas trait-centered views have no such problems. To do so, I revisit an old argument put forth by Elliott Sober and I show that recent attempts from the fitness-centered camp to reply to Sober’s charge are unsuccessful. I then show that fitness-centered views also have problems with a different type of case, namely opposing selection on a single trait; trait-centered views, on the other hand, may accommodate such cases if, as I propose here, we specify that the causal relation that figures prominently in them is understood as a relation of contributing causation. These arguments suggest that trait-centered definitions of selection are preferable to fitness-centered ones.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Jeler, Ciprian ciprianjeler@yahoo.com 0000-0003-0541-9196
Keywords:	philosophy of biology; natural selection; fitness; opposing selection; correlated traits; sexually antagonistic selection
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Causation
Depositing User:	Dr. Ciprian Jeler
Date Deposited:	05 Sep 2024 12:49
Last Modified:	05 Sep 2024 12:49
Item ID:	23874
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Causation
Date:	2024
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/23874

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