Toward a New Philosophy of Biology

Ernst Mayr was Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Emeritus, at Harvard University. He was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards, including the Crafoord Prize for Biology, the National Medal of Science, the Balzan Prize, and the Japan Prize.

It is a pleasure to be in the company of a mind so vibrant and still exploring the boundary between the circle of what is known and the vast expanse of what isn’t.

• I. Philosophy Introduction 1. Is Biology an Autonomous Science? 2. Cause and Effect in Biology 3. The Multiple Meanings of Teleological 4. The Probability of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life 5. The Origins of Human Ethics II. Natural Selection Introduction 6. An Analysis of the Concept of Natural Selection 7. Philosophical Aspects of Natural Selection III. Adaptation Introduction 8. Adaptation and Selection 9. How To Carry Out the Adaptationist Program? IV. Darwin Introduction 10. Darwin, Intellectual Revolutionary 11. The Challenge of Darwinism 12. What Is Darwinism 13. Darwin and Natural Selection 14. The Concept of Finality in Darwin and alter Darwin 15. The Death of Darwin V. Diversity Introduction 16. Toward a Synthesis in Biological Classification 17. Museums and Biological Laboratories 18. Problems in the Classification of Birds VI. Species Introduction 19. The Species Category 20. The Ontology of the Species Taxon VII. Speciation Introduction 21. Processes of Speciation in Animals 22. Evolution of Fish Species Flocks VIII. Macro Evolution Introduction 23. Does Microevolution Explain Macroevolution? 24. The Unity of the Genotype 25. Speciation and Macroevolution 26. Speciational Evolution through Punctuated Equilibria IX. Historical Perspective Introduction 27. On Weismann's Growth as an Evolutionist 28. On the Evolutionary Synthesis and After Index