Birch, Jonathan 
ORCID: 0000-0001-7517-4759
(2009)
Irretrievably confused? Innateness in explanatory context.
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 40 (4).
pp. 296-301.
ISSN 1369-8486
Abstract
The hunt for a biologically respectable definition for the folk concept of innateness is still on. I defend Ariew’s Canalization account of innateness against the criticisms of Griffiths and Machery, but highlight the remaining flaws in this proposal. I develop a new analysis based on the notion of environmental induction. A trait is innate, I argue, iff it is not environmentally induced. I augment this definition with a novel analysis of environmental induction that draws on the contrastive nature of causal explanation. Whether a trait is environmentally induced, I argue, depends on a context sensitive contrast class. I argue that a “Noninduction” analysis of innateness allows the concept an explanatory role in biology. I show how my proposal co-opts the successes of the Canalization account whilst avoiding its pitfalls, and I account for why biologists associate a range of disparate properties with innateness.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13698... |
| Additional Information: | © 2009 Elsevier |
| Divisions: | Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 07 May 2015 09:44 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Sep 2025 07:43 |
| Funders: | Arts and Humanities Research Council |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/61820 |
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