Our Genes: A Philosophical Perspective on Human Evolutionary Genomics

Cover
About the book
Title
Contents
Preface
	Original Sources
1. Introduction
2. Origins and Histories
	The Emergence of the Genetic Paradigm
	Mathematical, Material, and Computational Genetics
	The Power and Pervasiveness of Statistics
	R.A. Fisher: Statistics, Genetics, and Eugenics
	A Thought Experiment
	Genomic Journeys
	The Path Ahead
	Genomics Glossary
3. The Mind, the Lab, and the Field: Three Kinds of Populations
	Three Kinds of Populations
	Distinguishing Population Types
	Assumption Archaeology and Population Pluralism
4. Metrics and Measures
	The Meanings of Metrics and Measures: Realism or Constructivism?
	Three Metrics and Measures of Genetic Variation
	Theoretical and Disciplinary Homes
	Homo sapiens: A Special Case
5. Models and Methodologies
	A Tale of Two Methodologies
	When Maps Become the World
	Whither the Two Methodologies?
6. Six Patterns of Human Genomic Variation
	Six Empirical Patterns
	Pattern Matters
7. Natural Selection
	Natural Selection: Distinctions and Complementarity
	The Genomic Signature of Natural Selection
	Determining the Legible Signature of Selection
	Case Study: Freediving Physiology
	Taking a Step Back
8. Intelligence, Female Orgasm, and Future Discovery
	Gene versus Environment in Disease
	Intelligence, Female Orgasm, and Future Discovery
	The Distinction Between Gene and Environment, and the Adaptationist Paradigm
9. Is Race Real?
	Philosophers of Race Speak
	The Reality and Reification of Race
	Lewontin’s Distribution and “Lewontin’s Fallacy”: When the Single Shannon Just Isn’t Enough
	The Song Remains the Same
	Political Consequences and Possible Futures
	Is Race Real?
10. The Conscious Universe: Genes in Complex Systems
	Clockwork, Soup, and Consciousness
	Chance, Law, and the Limits of Total Explanation
	Statistics in a Conscious Universe
	Philosophies of Causation
	Explanatory Paradigms
	An Invitation to the Reader
	The Grand Scheme of Life
	The Final Paradox
References
Index