Philosophy of Behavioral Biology

This volume is the first to give a broad overview of issues in the philosophy of behavioral science, at present§one of the fastest growing fields in philosophy of science/biology. It includes papers by professional§philosophers and philosophers of science, as well as practicing scientists, covering three main themes:§genetic, developmental, and evolutionary explanations of behavior. It will be of interest to philosophers of§science and biology, as well as to scientists in almost any subfield of biology or psychology, especially those§that relate to biological explanations of human and non-human animal behavior.§This book includes revised and extended papers, most of which were originally presented at the§international conference, Biological Explanations of Behavior: Philosophical Perspectives , held at the§Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany, in June 2008. The leading idea of the conference and of this§book is to address philosophical issues that arise from the most recent scientific findings in biological§research on behavior. In this way, the book exemplifies an approach to philosophy of science that is§informed by the current state of affairs in science itself.