Philosophy of Biology

Biology is the study of life. Philosophy is the study of how to live well. It should come as no surprise that the two subjects overlap, but students may be surprised to find how extensive the overlap may be. In this advanced course students will consider ongoing philosophical debates in the biological sciences and how philosophical reasoning may contribute to future biological research.

Topics include:

• The species problem
• Levels of selection
• Adaptationism
• Measures of fitness
• Ethics and metaphysics of cloning