In Mendel's Mirror: Philosophical Reflections on Biology [Paperback]

Philip Kitcher (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195151798 | ISBN-13: 978-0195151794 | Publication Date: March 27, 2003

Philip Kitcher is one of the leading figures in the philosophy of science today. Here he collects, for the first time, many of his published articles on the philosophy of biology, spanning from the mid-1980's to the present.
The book's title refers to Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian monk who was one of the first scientists to develop a theory of heredity. Mendel's work has been deeply influential to our understanding of our selves and our world, just as the study of genetics today will have a profound and long-term impact on future scientific research. Kitcher's articles cover a broad range of topics with similar philosophical and social significance: sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, species, race, altruism, genetic determinism, and the rebirth of creationism in Intelligent Design.
Kitcher's work on the intersection of biology and the philosophy of science is both unprecedented and wide-ranging, and will appeal not only to philosophers of science, but to scholars and students across disciplines.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"What is most striking about the book is its uniformly high quality; although the volume runs to nearly four hundred pages, there are no space fillers here - each essay is substantive, penetrating, and authoritative.... In Mendel's Mirror performs the valuable service of collecting together some of the finest essays in philosophy of biology written in the past two decades, and gives a fascinating insight into Kitcher's intellectual development over that period."--Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Reading these papers together in one volume drives home just how impressive Kitcher's contribution to our field is. This volume will undoubtedly stimulate debate and provide fuel for new research programs in philosophy of biology."--Stephen M. Downes, Biology and Philosophy

About the Author

Philip Kitcher is Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University and author of The Nature of Mathematical Knowledge(OUP, 1983); The Advancement of Science (OUP, 1993); and Science, Truth, and Democracy (OUP, 2001).

Product Details

• Paperback: 410 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195151798
• ISBN-13: 978-0195151794
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,163,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Philip Kitcher (New York, NY) is John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University. He is the author of twelve books, including Living with Darwin: Evolution, Design, and the Future of Faith; In Mendel's Mirror: Philosophical Reflections on Biology; Science, Truth, and Democracy; and The Lives to Come: The Genetic Revolution and Human Possibilities. Professor Kitcher was the first recipient of the Prometheus Prize awarded by the American Philosophical Association for "lifetime contribution to expanding the frontiers of research in philosophy and science." He is also the winner of many other awards, most recently the Award for Distinguished Service to the Columbia Core Curriculum, the Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award from Columbia University, the Lannan Foundation Notable Book Award (given for Living with Darwin), and the Friend of Darwin Award (given by the National Committee on Science Education).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Flawed Kindle Edition, March 11, 2010

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M. North (LA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In Mendel's Mirror: Philosophical Reflections on Biology (Kindle Edition)

I want to warn others away from the Kindle edition of this very valuable book. The Kindle edition is poorly scanned and frequently inaccurate and/or unreadable. The text won't scale properly, and it's blobby and ugly at the default size. Worse yet, there are numerous typos. At one point Hydra comes out as something like I- lydi a. Many of the footnote numbers can't be read and some are in the wrong places. It would be nice if the index and footnotes were linked so that they could be used, but so few Kindle texts do this it's probably not worth mentioning. OUP should be ashamed.

5.0 out of 5 stars First Rate!, April 21, 2008

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rdf "rdf_acm" (Cambridge, Ma. USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: In Mendel's Mirror: Philosophical Reflections on Biology (Paperback)

The method behind most of these essays is: pose a question, posit a set of answers that covers the space of possible answers, examine how the shape of (biological/evolutionary) outcomes can discriminate between them, then look at the data to see what fits.

The essays are succinct, clear and often use either approximate equations or the results of simulation runs to assist the analysis -- very little "armchair" stuff here.

The only essay that I found a bit gratuitous was the one on "Born Again Creationism" which was (thankfully) much more salient in 2003 than it is today.