Skip Navigation

The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 2004 55(2):347-363; doi:10.1093/bjps/55.2.347
© 2004 by British Society for the Philosophy of Science
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (15)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ariew, A.
Right arrow Articles by Lewontin, R. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

The Confusions of Fitness

André Ariew1 and R. C. Lewontin2

1 Department of Philosophy, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, U.S.A, ariew{at}uri.edu 2 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A, lewontin{at}oeb.harvard.edu

The central point of this essay is to demonstrate the incommensurability of ‘Darwinian fitness’ with the numeric values associated with reproductive rates used in population genetics. While sometimes both are called ‘fitness’, they are distinct concepts coming from distinct explanatory schemes. Further, we try to outline a possible answer to the following question: from the natural properties of organisms and a knowledge of their environment, can we construct an algorithm for a particular kind of organismic life-history pattern that itself will allow us to predict whether a type in the population will increase or decrease relative to other types?

  1. Introduction
  2. Darwinian fitness
  3. Reproductive fitness and genetical models of evolution
  4. The models of reproductive fitness
    4.1 The Standard Viability Model
    4.2 Frequency-dependent selection
    4.3 Fertility models
    4.4 Overlapping generations
    Fitness as outcome
    5.1 Fitness as actual increase in type
    5.2 Fitness as expected increase in type
    5.2.1 Expected increase within a generation
    5.2.2 Expected increase between generations
    5.2.3 Postponed reproductive fitness effects


  5. The book-keeping problem
  6. Conclusion


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.