Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T08:12:59.474Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Emergent group traits, reproduction, and levels of selection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2014

Samir Okasha*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TB, UK. [email protected]://www.bristol.ac.uk/school-of-arts/people/samir-okasha/index.html

Abstract

All group traits, “emergent” or otherwise, are ultimately dependent on the traits and behaviours of the individuals that constitute the group. Unless a process of “group reproduction” is envisaged, this means that the evolution of group traits can in principle be studied in an individualistic way, by studying the dynamics of the underlying individual traits on which they depend.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Frank, S. A. (2013) Natural selection. VII. History and interpretation of kin selection theory. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 26:1151–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heisler, I. L. & Damuth, J. (1987) A method for analyzing selection in hierarchically structured populations. American Naturalist 103:582602.Google Scholar
Okasha, S. (2006) Evolution and the levels of selection. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okasha, S. (in press) The relation between kin and multi-level selection: An approach using causal graphs. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.Google Scholar