Philosophy 3334: Philosophy of Biology
Summer, 2021

Professor Joel Velasco
Office Hours: M,T,Th 1:00-2:00 or by appointment - 265G in Eng/Philosophy

Class meets 2:00-3:50 Monday-Friday (June 2nd-July 1st) in MCOM 166

All of the boilerplate information such as course policies and the grading scheme can be found on the syllabus. The readings for the course are below.

Syllabus

Required Books:

The Selfish Gene (40th anniversary edition) by Richard Dawkins. Oxford Landmark Science, 2016. (Any edition after and including the second edition of this book is fine).

All class assignments and any other readings will be found on this website. You should check this website reguarly for updates and bring copies of the assigned readings to class. All readings should be done before the date they are listed here. Come to class on that day prepared to discuss them. Reading questions and other homework assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date they are listed.

This is a tentative schedule/reading list:

Week 1 -

Wed, 6/2
- Introduction, Dawkins ch 1 (and you should always be reading the endnotes - marked with *)
- pdf of Dawkins available on blackboard
Thur
- Dawkins, ch 2+3
- reading questions
Fri
- Dawkins, ch 4+5 (ESS)
- reading questions
- Hawk/Dove practice handout (to look at after class)
- video recording of evolutionary game theory discussion (part I) (to watch after class)
Extras
- Concepcion, How to read philosophy (the appendix especially)
- Szathmary and Maynard Smith, The Major Evolutionary Transitions
- Szathmary, The First Replicators
- First life: The search for the first replicator (New Scientist magazine)
- The end of the RNA world is near (Quanta Magazine)
- Skyrms, Chapter 4 from Signals (the basics of ESS and evolutionary game thoery)
- Evolutionary Game Theory (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Maynard Smith and Price, The Logic of Animal Conflict
- Maynard Smith, The Theory of Games and the Evolution of Animal Conflicts
- Maynard Smith and Parker, The Logic of Asymmetric Contests

Week 2 -

Monday, 6/7
- Dawkins, ch 6 (kin selection)
- reading questions
- video recording of evolutionary game theory discussion (part II) (to watch after class)
Tue,
- Dawkins, ch 7
- reading questions
Wed,
- Dawkins, ch 7, 8
- reading questions
- Homework 1 due --- ANSWER GUIDE ---
Thu,
- Dawkins, ch 9,10
- reading questions
Fri,
- Dawkins, ch 10, 12 (reciprocal altruism)
- reading questions
Extras:
- Extra readings on kin selection, sex ratio theory, reciprocal altruism, and book reviews of The Selfish Gene

Week 3 -

Mon, 6/14
- Dawkins, ch 11,13
- reading questions
Tue
- Read the introduction to the 30th anniversary edition, the preface to the second edition, and the epilogue to the 40th anniversary edition
- reading questions
Wed
- Homework 2 due --- ANSWER GUIDE ---
- Time Magazine, Why you do what you do
- Wilson, E.O. from Sociobiology
- Barash, The Sociobiology of Human Behavior: Extrapolations and Specultations pages 284-297 -- (Chapter 10 of Sociobiology and Behavior 1977)
- reading questions (due Thurs)
Thur
- Levy, ch 5 of What Makes us Moral?
- reading questions
Fri
- Sober, Sociobiology and the Extension of Evolutionary Theory (from the 2nd edition of Philosophy of Biology)
- reading questions

Paper assignment -- DUE TUESDAY

Extras
- Extra readings on kin selection, sex ratio theory, reciprocal altruism, and book reviews of The Selfish Gene
- Dawkins, Replicator Selection and the Extended Phenotype
- Wilson, Human Nature
- Kaplan, Misinformation, Misprepresentation, and Misuse of Human Behavioral Genetics Research
- Lewontin, The Analysis of Variance and the Analysis of Causes
- Sober, Separating Nature and Nurture
- Block, How heritability misleads about race
- Holcolmb and Byron, Sociobiology from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Leeds and Dusek, Editor's Note (on Sociobiology)
- Sociobiology Study Group of Science for the People, Sociobiology: Another Biological Determinism
- Wilson, Reply to SSG note above
- Burian, Human Sociobiology and Genetic Determinism
- The science of gay gene science (blog post)

Week 4 -

Monday, 6/21
- Coyne, "How much variation in human behavior is due to variation in our genes? Answer: quite a bit." (blog post)
  - EXTRA: Here is the full paper Coyne is refering to: GWAS studies of human behavior
- Pinker, Why Nature & Nurture won't go away
- reading questions
Tue,
- PAPER DUE IN EVENING
- Buss, Sexual conflict in human mating (video Ted talk)
- Dupre, The evolutionary psychology of sex and gender (ch 3 of Human Nature and the Limits of Science)
- reading questions
Wed,
- John Gray, Mars brain, Venus brain (video)
- APA statement on gender differences
- Fine, a video lecture on her book (Delusions of Gender)
- reading (and viewing) questions
Thu,
- Fausto-Sterling, Sex/Gender: Biology in a Social World (Chapters 1-4)
- no reading questions - in class activity

Paper assignment -- DUE MONDAY

Fri,
- Fausto-Sterling, Sex/Gender: Biology in a Social World (Chapters 5-6)
- reading questions
Extras:
- Extra readings and videos on sex and gender
- Barnes, The Metaphysics of Gender
- The humiliating practice of sex-testing female atheletes
- Slides for sex differences (my discussion on youtube)

Week 5 -

Mon, 6/28
- PAPER DUE IN EVENING
- Metaphysics textbook introductory chapter on the philosophy of race (by Alyssa Ney and Allan Hazlett)
- reading questions
Tue, 6/29
- Bernier, New Division of the Earth
- Appiah, Why there are no human races
- Slides for Why there are no human races (my discussion on youtube on my youtube page here: http://youtube.com/user/jdvelasc)
- reading questions
Wed, 6/30
- AAA (American Anthropological Association) statement on race
- Mills, But what are you really?: The Metaphysics of Race
- Slides for But what are you really? (my discussion on youtube)
- reading questions
Thu, 7/1 (Final day of class)
- Cavalli-Sforza, Genes, Peoples and Languages
- Andreasen, A new perspective on the race debate
- Youtube interviews with David Livingston Smith and Robin Andreasen can be found on my youtube page here: http://youtube.com/user/jdvelasc
- Slides for race and biology (my discussion on youtube)
- reading questions
Extras
- Extra readings and youtube videos on race
- Dorothy Roberts, The problem with race-based medicine (video)
- Velasco and Snodgrass, The Use of Race in eGFR: Why Racial Justice Requires Accuracy
- Reich, How genetics is changing our understanding of race (NY Times March 23, 2018)
- Reich, How to talk about 'race' and genetics (NY Times March 30, 2018)
- What happens when geneticists talk sloppily about race (the Atlantic)

Final paper due 11:59pm on Saturday, 7/3