Modus Darwin reconsidered

Helgeson, Case ORCID: 0000-0001-5333-9954 (2016) Modus Darwin reconsidered. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. pp. 1-21. ISSN 0007-0882

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Abstract

Modus Darwin is the name given by Elliott Sober to a form of argument that Sober attributes to Darwin in the Origin of Species, and to subsequent evolutionary biologists who have reasoned in the same way. In short, the argument form goes: Similarity, ergo common ancestry. In the present paper I review and critique Sober's analysis of Darwin's reasoning. I argue that modus Darwin has serious limitations that make the argument form unsuited for supporting Darwin's conclusions, and that Darwin did not reason in this way

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://bjps.oxfordjournals.org/
Additional Information:	© 2015 The Authors
Divisions:	Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) Q Science > Q Science (General)
Date Deposited:	27 Feb 2015 09:59
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 01:03
Funders:	National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Visiting Fellowship at the Tilburg Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/61099

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