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How the Concept of 'Population' Resolves Concepts of 'Environment'

Millstein, Roberta L. (2014) How the Concept of 'Population' Resolves Concepts of 'Environment'. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Millstein (2009, 2010) defends the “causal interactionist population concept” (CIPC). Here I further defend the CIPC by showing how it clarifies another concept that biologists grapple with, namely, environment. Should we understand selection as ranging only over homogeneous environments or, alternatively, as ranging over any habitat area we choose to study? I argue instead that the boundaries of the population dictate the range of the environment, whether homogeneous or heterogeneous, over which selection operates. Thus, understanding the concept of “population” helps us to understand concepts of “selective environment,” exemplifying the importance of the CIPC to other concepts and debates.


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Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Millstein, Roberta L.rlmillstein@ucdavis.edu
Keywords: environment, population, heterogeneous, homogenous, natural selection, Robert Brandon, Richard Levins, causal interactionist population concept
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Ecology/Conservation
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Depositing User: Dr. Roberta L. Millstein
Date Deposited: 26 Jan 2014 13:24
Last Modified: 26 Jan 2014 13:24
Item ID: 10244
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Ecology/Conservation
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Date: 2014
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/10244

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