Author Description

This Book Addresses A Concept- That Of The Organism, Or Biological Individual - Which Is Used Across Biology To Pick Out Living Things, But Which Is Contested. I Argue That We Can Arbitrate Arguments About The Concept By Delving Into Philosophical Questions About What Concepts Are For, In Order To Formulate Some Plausible Success Criteria Against Which The Performance Of Rival Concepts Can Be Evaluated. I Defend A Particular, Evolutionary, Way Of Understanding The Concept As Outperforming Its Rivals In Terms Of The Kind And Range Of Work It Supports. More Generally, I Argue That Kind Concepts Are Like Scientific Models, In That They Distort And Idealise The Natural World For The Sake Of Making It Easier For Us To Think, Talk And Entertain Useful Expectations About, That World