Books in the History and Philosophy of Biology series

Philosophy of Biology Before Biology examines biological and proto-biological writings from the mid-eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century (from Buffon to Cuvier; Kant to Oken; and Kielmeyer).

By collecting for the first time essays on the most relevant philosophers who have dealt with the biologist Jakob von Uexküll (1864-1944), the book generates a global picture of his previously unaccounted and yet enormous impact on philosophy of the 20th Century and on current debates.

Natural kinds are an important topic in current philosophical debate. This edited collection examines kinds from a new focal point, that of the empirical activities and categorizations used by scientists to define them. An esteemed group of contributors explore the nature of kinds and kinding across a variety of disciplines.

This book provides a philosophical examination of what has been called the most powerful metaphor in biology: The machine metaphor. It discusses the idea that living systems can be understood through the lens of engineering methods and machine metaphors from both historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives.

Focusing on the work of William James (1842-1910), this study looks at Darwinian evolution within the context of a person-oriented philosophy. McGranahan argues for James as an innovator of evolutionary concepts and an early proponent of non-reductionist Darwinism.

This is an innovative study into the role of action in the natural world. Primitive (non-intentional) action in humans is discussed as a form of agency common to many organisms - an area neglected in recent scholarship. This approach makes an important contribution to current philosophical debate on the nature and origins of agency.

David Wiggins's contribution to metaphysics, logic and ethics has been widely recognized, but the connections between his work and recent issues in the philosophy of biology have been overlooked. This study demonstrates how Wiggins's work can contribute to, as well as benefit from, contemporary debate in this field.

Natural kinds are an important topic in current philosophical debate. This edited collection examines kinds from a new focal point, that of the empirical activities and categorizations used by scientists to define them. An esteemed group of contributors explore the nature of kinds and kinding across a variety of disciplines.

The book investigates the question of biological identity from the perspectives of metaphysics and the philosophy of biology.

Organismal biology is an established scholarly discipline, yet its origins have been obscured by Darwinian histories of biology. Esposito presents a historiography of organicist and holistic thought through an examination of the work of leading biologists from Britain and America.

Investigating the reality and significance of racial categories, Remapping Race in a Global Context examines the role of race in human genomics, biomedicine, and struggles for social justice around the world.