The role of theology in current evolutionary reasoning

A remarkable but little studied aspect of current evolutionary theory is the use by many biologists and philosophers of theological arguments for evolution. These can be classed under two heads: imperfection arguments, in which some organic design is held to be inconsistent with God's perfection and wisdom, and homology arguments, in which some pattern of similarity is held to be inconsistent with God's freedom as an artificer. Evolutionists have long contended that the organic world falls short of what one might expect from an omnipotent and benevolent creator. Yet many of the same scientists who argue theologically for evolution are committed to the philosophical doctrine of methodological naturalism, which maintains that theology has no place in science. Furthermore, the arguments themselves are problematical, employing concepts that cannot perform the work required of them, or resting on unsupported conjectures about suboptimality. Evolutionary theorists should reconsider both the arguments and the influence of Darwinian theological metaphysics on their understanding of evolution.     

Landau damping of plasma waves

The Landau theory of collisionless damping of plasma waves is discussed. The arguments are given in favor that one of the two contours used by Landau in his theory should be understood in this problem as the base Landau contour, however, it is not the contour typically referred to as the “Landau contour.” The place that this Landau contour should occupy is found in the approximate analytic theory of weak damping of waves, as well as in the quasi-stationary theory of ion-acoustic turbulence.     

Inference problems in population genetics: DNA sequences, restriction endonucleases and ascertainment sampling

A major trend of population genetics theory in the 1970s was the increased emphasis on inductive arguments, based on observed genetic data, rather than on deductive arguments based on theory and models. This occurred in part because the deductive theory had largely fulfilled its role of describing evolution as a genetic process, and in part because of the increasing amounts of data available on the genetic constitution of natural populations. Inference procedures raise difficulties not present in the deductive theory. Often conditional arguments are necessary since the data often must fulfil some condition to be observed. Different inference procedures, having different efficiencies, apply for data from different apparatuses. Care must be taken in deciding what it is that the inference concerns. These problems are illustrated by reference to restriction endonuclease techniques and ascertainment sampling.     

Moral philosophy and public policy: the case of NRTs

In this paper, I will express some reservations about the usefulness of moral philosophy for the analysis of public policy issues.... My question is whether taking morality seriously requires taking moral philosophy seriously. This paper focuses on one particular public policy context -- namely, government commissions into new reproductive technologies, such as Britain's Warnock Committee, Australia's Waller and Michael Committees, Canada's Baird Commission, and many others.... Moral philosophers are sometimes asked to participate in these commissions, either as Commissioners, staff, or expert advisers. How can moral philosophers contribute to the analysis of public policy recommendations on NRTs? A survey of the literature suggests that there are two main views on this question, one of which is ambitious, the other more modest. The ambitious view says that moral philosophers should attempt to persuade Commissioners to adopt the right comprehensive moral theory (e.g. adopt a deontological theory, rather than utilitarianism or contractarianism), and then apply this theory to particular policy questions. The more modest view shies away from promoting a particular moral theory, given that the relative merits of different moral theories are a subject of dispute even amongst moral philosophers. Instead, it says that moral philosophers should attempt to ensure that the Commission's arguments are clear and consistent. On this view, philosophers should focus on identifying conceptual confusions or logical inconsistencies within the Commission's arguments without seeking to influence its choice of the underlying theory.     

On the stability of the cell size distribution

A model for the growth of a size-structured cell population reproducing by fission into two identical daughters is formulated and analysed. The model takes the form of a linear first order partial differential equation (balance law) in which one term has a transformed argument. Using semigroup theory and compactness arguments we establish the existence of a stable size distribution under a certain condition on the growth rate of the individuals. An example shows that one cannot dispense with this condition.     

Righteous modeling: the competence of classical population genetics

In a recent article, ??Wayward Modeling: Population Genetics and Natural Selection,?? Bruce Glymour claims that population genetics is burdened by serious predictive and explanatory inadequacies and that the theory itself is to blame. Because Glymour overlooks a variety of formal modeling techniques in population genetics, his arguments do not quite undermine a major scientific theory. However, his arguments are extremely valuable as they provide definitive proof that those who would deploy classical population genetics over natural systems must do so with careful attention to interactions between individual population members and environmental causes. Glymour??s arguments have deep implications for causation in classical population genetics.     

Niels Stensen's geometrical theory of muscle contraction (1667): a reappraisal

From reading the Elementorum Myologiae Specimen of 1667 by Niels Stensen (Steno), I assert that the text and illustrations contain an observation-based theory on the mechanics of muscle contraction: (1) Based on the study of the structure and motion of several muscles in different animals and in man, Stensen described the contraction of parallel equally long motor fibers formated as uni- or multipennate structures, each forming a parallelepipedon between parallel tendon plates. The parallelepipedon was used as a model allowing Stensen to apply mathematical methods in the argumentation. When the motor fibers contract, the tendons move in parallel planes, the muscle shortens, but the distance between the tendon planes does not change. There will appear a swelling, even if the volume of the model remains the same. Therefore, the swelling observed during contraction, according to Stensen, is no argument for an increase in muscle bulk and no argument against contraction without any change of muscle volume. (2) In the first century after its proposal, different arguments were published against Stensen's theory: in 1680 by Borelli (De Motu Animalium), 1694 by Bernoulli (De Motu Musculorum), 1743 by Boerhaave (Praelectiones), and 1762 by Haller (Elementa Physiologiae). When read today, these arguments are irrelevant, erroneous, or without scientific documentation. However, by the end of the 18th century, Stensen's theory all but disappeared from the science literature. (3) Anatomical and biomechanical studies published after 1980 show that the foundation and applicability of Stensen's theory are still valid. (4) While earlier considered to be perhaps Stensen's weakest work, arguments are presented to reappraise Elementorum as one of Stensen's significant publications and as a significant work in the biomechanical sciences.     

Infinite populations and counterfactual frequencies in evolutionary theory

One finds intertwined with ideas at the core of evolutionary theory claims about frequencies in counterfactual and infinitely large populations of organisms, as well as in sets of populations of organisms. One also finds claims about frequencies in counterfactual and infinitely large populations--of events--at the core of an answer to a question concerning the foundations of evolutionary theory. The question is this: to what do the numerical probabilities found throughout evolutionary theory correspond? The answer in question says that evolutionary probabilities are 'hypothetical frequencies' (including what are sometimes called 'long-run frequencies' and 'long-run propensities'). In this paper, I review two arguments against hypothetical frequencies. The arguments have implications for the interpretation of evolutionary probabilities, but more importantly, they seem to raise problems for biologists' claims about frequencies in counterfactual or infinite populations of organisms and sets of populations of organisms. I argue that when properly understood, claims about frequencies in large and infinite populations of organisms and sets of populations are not threatened by the arguments. Seeing why gives us a clearer understanding of the nature of counterfactual and infinite population claims and probability in evolutionary theory.     

Evolution,reproduction and definition of life

Synthetic theory of evolution is a superior integrative biological theory. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the fact that multiple attempts of defining life are based on this theory. One of them even has a status of NASA’s working definition. According to this definition, ‘life is a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution’ Luisi (Orig Life Evol Bios 28:613–622, 1998); Cleland, Chyba (Orig Life Evol Bios 32:387–393, 2002). This definition is often considered as one of the more theoretically mature definitions of life. This Darwinian definition has nonetheless provoked a lot of criticism. One of the major arguments claims that this definition is wrong due to ‘mule’s problem’. Mules (and other infertile hybrids), despite being obviously living organisms, in the light of this definition are considered inanimate objects. It is strongly counterintuitive. The aim of this article was to demonstrate that this reasoning is false. In the later part of the text, I also discuss some other arguments against the Darwinian approach to defining life.     

Elementary Forms and their Dynamics: Revisiting Mary Douglas

Mary Douglas's oeuvre furnishes the social sciences with one of the most profound and ambitious bodies of social theory ever to emerge from within anthropology. This article uses the occasion of the publication of Fardon's two volumes of her previously uncollected papers to restate her core arguments about the limited plurality of elementary forms of social organisation, about the institutional dynamics of conflict, and about conflict attenuation. In reviewing these two volumes, the article considers what those anthropologists who have been sceptical either of Douglas's importance or of the Durkheimian traditions generally, will want from these books to convince them to look afresh at her work. It concludes that the two collections will provide open-minded anthropologists with enough evidence of the creativity and significance of her achievement to encourage them to reopen her major theoretical works. An internal critique of some aspects of Douglas's handling of her arguments is offered, before the conclusion identifies the wider significance of her arguments for the social sciences.     

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE PRESUMED-VERSUS-INFORMED CONSENT DICHOTOMY IN POSTMORTEM ORGAN PROCUREMENT

In this paper I problematise quite a simple assertion: that the two major frameworks used in assessing consent to post‐mortem organ donation, presumed consent and informed consent, are procedurally similar in that both are ‘default rules.’ Because of their procedural common characteristic, both rules do exclude marginalized groups from consent schemes. Yet this connection is often overlooked. Contract theory on default rules, better than bioethical arguments, can assist in choosing between these two rules. Applying contract theory to the question of post‐mortem organ donation suggests that the default rule should be one that goes against the wishes of the stronger party in consent decisions.     

The logical structure of irreversible systems transformations: A theorem concerning Dollo's law and chaotic movement

The argument of historical irrevocability as an explanation for the irreversibility of organismic evolution is reconsidered. It is examined under which conditions a chain of transformations never can lead to a state equivalent to a previous one. It is shown to be sufficient to take into consideration that the environment of an organ also consists of the other organs in an organism. Under this prerequisite it is impossible to reach an ancestral state once more. This type of irreversibility depends solely on the mutual interdependency of characters within one organism. No reference to statistical arguments is necessary. The relationship between chaotic dynamic systems and the present theory is discussed.     

Computational complexity of a problem in molecular structure prediction.

The computational task of protein structure prediction is believed to require exponential time, but previous arguments as to its intractability have taken into account only the size of a protein's conformational space. Such arguments do not rule out the possible existence of an algorithm, more selective than exhaustive search, that is efficient and exact. (An efficient algorithm is one that is guaranteed, for all possible inputs, to run in time bounded by a function polynomial in the problem size. An intractable problem is one for which no efficient algorithm exists.) Questions regarding the possible intractability of problems are often best answered using the theory of NP-completeness. In this treatment we show the NP-hardness of two typical mathematical statements of empirical potential energy function minimization of macromolecules. Unless all NP-complete problems can be solved efficiently, these results imply that a function minimization algorithm can be efficient for protein structure prediction only if it exploits protein-specific properties that prohibit the simple geometric constructions that we use in our proofs. Analysis of further mathematical statements of molecular structure prediction could constitute a systematic methodology for identifying sources of complexity in protein folding, and for guiding development of predictive algorithms.     

The origin of the planetesimal theory.

T. C. Chamberlin suggested in 1897, on the basis of geological and climatological arguments, that the planets were formed by accretion of cold solid partices. With F. R. Moulton he developed convincing arguments against the Laplace nebular hypothesis and published a comprehensive 'planetesimal theory' of the origin of the solar system in 1905. The Chamberlin-Moulton theory has current as well as historical interest.     

Applied catastrophe theory in the social and biological sciences

Catastrophe theory is a mathematical theory which, allied with a new and controversial methodology, has claimed wide application, particularly in the biological and the social sciences. These claims have recently been heatedly opposed. This article describes the debate and assesses the merits of the different arguments advanced.     

Pro‐Life Arguments Against Infanticide and Why they are Not Convincing

Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva's controversial article ‘After‐Birth Abortion: Why Should the Baby Live?’ has received a lot of criticism since its publishing. Part of the recent criticism has been made by pro‐life philosopher Christopher Kaczor, who argues against infanticide in his updated book ‘Ethics of Abortion’. Kaczor makes four arguments to show where Giubilini and Minerva's argument for permitting infanticide goes wrong. In this article I argue that Kaczor's arguments, and some similar arguments presented by other philosophers, are mistaken and cannot show Giubilini and Minerva's view to be flawed. I claim that if one wants to reject the permissibility of infanticide, one must find better arguments for doing so.     

Sampling species abundance distributions: resolving the veil-line debate

Preston's classic work on the theory of species abundance distributions (SADs) in ecology has been challenged by Dewdney. Dewdney contends that Preston's veil-line concept, relating to the shape of sample SADs, is flawed. Here, I show that Preston's and Dewdney's theories can be reconciled by considering the differing mathematical properties of the sampling process on logarithmic (Preston) versus linear (Dewdney) abundance scales. I also derive several related results and show, importantly, that one cannot reject the log-normal distribution as a plausible SAD based only on sampling arguments, as Dewdney and others have done.     

DNA柔韧性与成环性质研究进展

DNA成环在生物体内是一个非常重要的生理现象理解DNA的柔韧性,成环性,及其机理非常重要。然而迄今为止,对于这个问题一直没有一个统一的认识：过去对此有几个不同的理论,比较成熟的是蠕虫（WLC）模型。它能够解释一些实验数据。但是最近有人对这一理论提出异议,认为其并不;位确,并通过实验说明该理论有一些观点失之偏颇,因此,有必要发展一套新的、更为完善的理论;此外还发现,一些实验结果与另外的两种新的模型相吻合。这就引起了学术界的争议和研究热潮。有关DNA成环的问题已经成为目前研究热点,近年来,应用各种新技术和新方法该领域研究不断取得新的进展。