In this seminar, we will survey some of the leading topics in
philosophy of biology, including adaptationism, the concept of
fitness, the units/levels of selection, evolutionary developmental
biology, the concept of environment, cultural evolution and niche
coevolution.  Readings will be taken from two textbooks, Elliott
Sober’s Philosophy of Biology and Kim Sterelny and Paul Griffith’s
Sex and Death, as well as from primary sources.  Seminar
participants will be expected to turn in written reflections on the
every week’s readings, and to offer a prepared presentation to the
class.