Populations without Reproduction. Issue 5 (December 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Charbonneau, Mathieu
• Is Part Of: Philosophy of science. Volume 81:Issue 5(2014)
• Page Start: 727
• Page End: 740
• Publication Date: 2014-12
• Subjects: Science -- Periodicals; Science -- Philosophy; Science; Science -- Philosophy; Philosophie des sciences; Epistemology; Periodicals; 501
• DOI: 10.1086/677203
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1539-767X

Abstract

Abstract : For a population to undergo evolution by natural selection, it is assumed that the constituents of the population form parent-offspring lineages, that is, that they must reproduce. I challenge this assumption by dividing the notion of reproduction into two subprocesses, that is, multiplication and inheritance, that produce parent-offspring lineages between the parts of a population, and I show that their population-level roles, generation and memory, respectively, can be effected by processes that do not rely on such local-level lineages. I further argue that these two population-level processes, not local parent-offspring lineages, are necessary conditions for a population to undergo Darwinian evolution.