How Biology Shapes Philosophy

Subtitled 'new foundations for naturalism', this volume elaborates what the editor calls biophilosophy as distinct from the philosophy of biology and is similar in intent to Patricia Churchland's neurophilosophy (she contributes a chapter). The contributions are effectively elaborations of the perceived implications of Darwinism as a foundation for naturalism. These include the demise of essentialism as, for instance, applied to human nature having fixed characteristics, and the 'universal acid' of the Darwinian view of life as a random mechanistic process devoid of meaning and purpose. The reader is introduced to the idea of teleosemantics, which argues that representation is in fact a biological function. Sir Roger Scruton, in his book reviewed below, would certainly not agree with this when applied to rationality. This theme is taken up by Samir Okasha, who proposes a biological rationality based on the idea of fitness rather than having reasons for one's beliefs and actions. This is compared with the maximisation of utility and is explained in terms of adaptation - however, this idea itself is based on a deterministic influence of the environment on the organism, when we now know that this is in fact a mutual and reciprocal process. Machery proposes a nomological rather than essentialist notion of human nature in terms of a set of properties resulting from evolution. This is an important volume for philosophers to engage with as it clearly shows how biologists are now viewing philosophy and attempting to redefine the human condition.