Darwinism in Philosophy, Social Science and Policy (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology)

Alexander Rosenberg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521664071 ISBN 13: 9780521664073

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2000

A collection of essays by Alexander Rosenberg, the distinguished philosopher of science. The essays cover three broad areas related to Darwinian thought and naturalism: the first deals with the solution of philosophical problems such as reductionism, the second with the development of social theories, and the third with the intersection of evolutionary biology with economics, political philosophy, and public policy. Specific papers deal with naturalistic epistemology, the limits of reductionism, the biological justification of ethics, the so-called 'trolley problem' in moral philosophy, the political philosophy of biological endowments, and the Human Genome Project and its implications for policy. Rosenberg's important writings on a variety of issues are here organized into a coherent philosophical framework which promises to be a significant and controversial contribution to scholarship in many areas.

Review:

'... Rosenberg's views are important and the specialist in this area should consult this volume.' Journal of Economic Methodology

Book Description:

A collection of essays by Alexander Rosenberg, discussing how Darwinian mechanisms account for human values, the character of social institutions, and the justification of our claims to knowledge in the sciences.