Okasha, Samir (2021) Cancer and the Levels of Selection. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Cancer is often seen as a case of multilevel selection, in which selfish cancer cells pursue short-term proliferation to the detriment of the collective. Thus cancer cells are described as `cheats', and an analogy is often drawn between the mechanisms by which organisms fight cancer and the mechanisms by which social groups enforce cooperation. Recently, Gardner ([2015a]) and Shpak and Lu ([2016]) have argued that cancer is not a true case of multilevel selection, that cancer cells should be not regarded as cheats, and that the analogy between anti-cancer adaptations and suppression mechanisms in social groups is misleading. Their arguments are powerful. However, by drawing on the (presumed) link between cancer and the evolution of multicellularity, the notion that cancer represents a form of selective conflict between cells and organisms can be salvaged.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Additional Information: | forthcoming in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science | ||||||
| Keywords: | levels of selection, cancer, social evolution, multicellularity, evolutionary conflict | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology |
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| Depositing User: | Dr Samir Okasha | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 17 Jun 2021 19:21 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 17 Jun 2021 19:21 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 19192 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology |
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| Date: | 17 June 2021 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19192 |
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