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Kin Selection and Its Discontents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

David C. Queller
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Abstract

Kin selection is a core aspect of social evolution theory, but a small number of critics have recently challenged it. Here I address these criticisms and show that kin selection remains an important explanation for much (though not all) social evolution. I show how many of the criticisms rest on historical idiosyncrasies of the way the field happened to develop, rather than on the real logic and evidence.

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Type
50 Years of Inclusive Fitness
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 83 , Issue 5 , December 2016 , pp. 861 - 872
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant nos. IOS-1256416 and NSF DEB-1146375, as well as by the John Templeton Foundation grant 43667.

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