Philosophy of Biology (Princeton Foundations of Contemporary Philosophy) Paperback – September 6, 2016

Don't be deceived by the small size of this book. It provides a survey of current ideas in biology while provoking innumerable questions and possibilities to be considered. Living things are so complex and classroom biology makes everything seem so cut-and-dried, but Godfrey-Smith makes it clear that it's not so simple. And while he neatly side-steps the big "What is life?" question at the beginning of the book, his final chapter on information surprises and satisfies by providing an answer. His writing style is clear and accessible, and only the discussions of mathematical models get a bit murky. If you are curious about the Big Questions in biology today, this is a fine place to start your exploration.

In comparison to some other texts on the philosophy of biology, this book is fairly up-to-date. It may not include the details of cutting-edge science (although there are hints of this), but it DOES present many of the angles that would be appreciated by someone studying the philosophy of biology.The book is presented in an essay format. There is a section on social intelligence, and multiple sections explaining the role of the history of biology, and major theories.The understanding of the variety of theories present in biology was amazing and academic. Although I don't remember all the specifics, this book helped me considerably in formulating a mature concept of the philosophy of biology for my own book, The Dimensional Biologist's Toolkit (2015).

This is not a philosophy book but a polemics for various attempted formalizations of theories of evolution. The author actually quotes Richard Dawkins in support of some of them --- might as well quote Bill Maher. Any reader interested in the epistemics of biology would be better off reading a good book on epistemology.

Its philosophy!

this book introduces philosophy of biology in the pre-genomic times.i enjoyed reading it and sent inquiries via discussions department.i hope that some interested readers will respond.i am sure that their comments will be of great help .

This book didn't provide a lot of B.S. about evolution but covered what it says very thoroughly.

like his later books discussing early stages of evolution (mostly underwater, but quite a lot about humans as well), this one combines conversational style with surprising insights. biological context seems to inspire fresh philosophy better than any other these days; Mr. Godfrey-Smith being a university professor, his books are a big text book in disguise - accessible, though deep and wide.

I was looking for a good introduction to the philosophy of biology and I am pleased to have come across this rich text with a clear cogent presentation of the main philosophical issues in modern biology.It is a comprehensive up to date exposition of the contentious epistemological questions in evolution theory, the concepts of species and biological individuality, cooperation and pro social behaviour, the nature of genes and many other relevant topics.Each self contained chapter delineates the controversies and the range of solutions and arguments advanced by the contemporary philosophers and scientific researchers.In short a fruitful and stimulating read for workers or students in the various sub disciplines of modern biology . It is a useful exercise for non philosophers to take stock and examine critically the equivocal meanings and the inherent fuzziness of many everyday biological concepts they use for instance gene or species. The philosophy of biology as another reviewer puts it is becoming one of the most exciting areas of modern philosophy. It has certainly found a great exponent with this author.

A well written and documented introduction to philosophy of biology. Yet the focus is almost exclusively on evolutionary theory. In this respect, the book is much reminiscent of Hull 1974 Philosophy of the biological sciences or Sober 1993 Philosophy of Biology. But this gives a distorted view of what philosophy of biology is now. Sterelny and Griffiths 1999 Sex and death is broader in scope. A good introduction to philosophy of biology should cover not just evolutionary theory but also molecular biology, systems biology, ecology, not to mention also some of the more recent problems raised by synthetic biology and theoretical/computational biology. See also Garvey 2007 Philosophy of biology, or Rosenberg and McShea 2008 Philosophy of biology.

Being intrested in gene-culture co-evolution, among many other things, I very much enjoyed this book. Godfrey-Smith covers a good choice of topics, writes in a clear style and does not lead the reader astray with unnecessary details. He focuses on what is immediately relevant, is objective and his points are well-argued. I also happen to agree with him on many points, but that is another story. Consolations of philosophy! I recommend this book for biologists, anthropologists, economists, and, yes, to philosophers as well. Even scholars of religion should read this.- Ilkka Pyysiäinen, Helsinki, Finland.

It's a decent read, and goes through a number of themes in a good way. However, it too often does that destructive philosophy thing of spending too much effort in defining concepts and terms. Too little emphasis on problems and solutions to them. My longer review can be found on my blog Civilisation at Wordpress.com: "Is there a philosophy of biology?" (Since this review system apparently does not allow links.)