Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:47:27.656Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sociobiology and the Semantic View of Theories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2023

Barbara L. Horan
Barbara L. Horan*
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The semantic view of scientific theories has been defended as more adequate than the “received” view, especially with respect to biological theories (Beatty 1980, 1981; Thompson 1983). However, the semantic view has not been evaluated on its own terms. In this paper I first show how the theory of sociobiology propounded by E.O. Wilson (1975) can be understood on the semantic approach. I then discuss the criticism that Wilson’s theory is beset by the problem of unreliable generalizations. I suggest that this problem results from the use of the model-building strategy in theory. I conclude that the problem is pressing enough to impugn the semantic view as an adequate account of sociobiological theory.

According to proponents of the semantic view of theories, scientific theories function to specify a class of “models,” interpretations, or representations of their postulates.

Type
Part V. Social Science
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1986 , Issue 1: Volume One: Contributed Papers 1986 , 1986 , pp. 322 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1986

References

Beatty, John. (1980). “Optimal-design Models and the Strategy of Model Building in Evolutionary Biology.” Philosophy of Science 47: 532–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beatty, John. (1981). “What’s Wrong with the Received View of Evolutionary Theory?” In PSA 1980. Volume 2. Edited by P.D. Asquith and R.N. Giere. East Lansing, MI: Philosophy of Science Association. Pages 397-426.Google Scholar
Bertram, B.C.R. (1975). “Social Factors Influencing Reproduction in Wild Lions.” Journal of Zoology (London) 177: 463–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertram, B.C.R. (1978). “Living in groups.” In Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach. Edited by J.R. Krebs and N.B. Davies. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. Pages 64–96.Google Scholar
Caplan, Arthur. (1978). The Sociobiology Debate. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Cohen, Joel. (1969). “Natural Primate Troops and a Stochastic Population Model.” American Naturalist 103: 455–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crook, J.H. (1965). “The Adaptive Significance of Avian Social Organizations.” Symposium of the Zoological Society of London 14: 181–218.Google Scholar
Emlen, Stephen. (1978). “The Evolution of Cooperative Breeding in Birds.” In Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach. Edited by J.R. Krebs and N.B. Davies. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. Pages 245–281.Google Scholar
Hamilton, W.D. (1972). “Altruism and Related Phenomena, Mainly in the Social Insects.” Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 3: 193–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horan, Barbara L. (1985). Sociobiology: A Critical Defense. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Xerox University Microfilms Publication Number DA8526422.Google Scholar
Horan, Barbara L. (1986). “The Comparative Method and Sociobiological Inference.” Paper presented at the Second Joint Philosophy Conference of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the University of Maryland, College Park and the Johns Hopkins University, Catonsville, MD., 10 May 1986.Google Scholar
Kitcher, Philip. (1985). Vaulting Ambition. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press.Google Scholar
Korringa, P. (1947). “Relations Between the Moon and Periodicity in the Breeding of Marine Animals.” Ecological Monographs 17: 349–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leigh, E. (1971). Adaptation and Diversity. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper and Company.Google Scholar
Ligon, J.D. and Ligon, S.H (1982). “The Cooperative Breeding Behavior of the Green Woodhoopoe.” Scientific American 247: 126–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacArthur, R.H. (1965). “Ecological Consequences of Natural Selection.” In Theoretical and Mathematical Biology. Edited by T.H. Waterman and H.J. Morowitz. New York: Blaisdell Publishing Company. Pages 388-397.Google Scholar
Richerson, Peter J. and Boyd, Rober (Forthcoming). “Simple Models of Complex Phenomena: the Case from Cultural Evolution.” In Evolution and Behavior. Edited by John Dupre. Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books.Google Scholar
Suppes, P. (1967). “What is a Scientific Theory?” In Philosophy of Science Today. Edited by S. Morgenbesser. New York: Basic Books. Pages 55-67.Google Scholar
Thompson, Paul. (1983). “The Structure of Evolutionary Theory: a Semantic Approach.” Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 14: 215–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, E.O. (1971). The Insect Societies. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, E.O. (1975). Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.Google Scholar