Skip to main content
Journal cover image

How is biological explanation possible?

Publication ,  Journal Article
Rosenberg, A
Published in: British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
January 1, 2001

That biology provides explanations is not open to doubt. But how it does so must be a vexed question for those who deny that biology embodies laws or other generalizations with the sort of explanatory force that the philosophy of science recognizes. The most common response to this problem has involved redefining law so that those grammatically general statements which biologists invoke in explanations can be counted as laws. But this terminological innovation cannot identify the source of biology's explanatory power. I argue that because biological science is historical, the problem of biological explanation can be assimilated to the parallel problem in the philosophy of history, and that the problem was solved by Carl Hempel. All we need to do is recognize that the only laws that biology - in all its compartments from the molecular onward - has or needs are the laws of natural selection.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

DOI

ISSN

0007-0882

Publication Date

January 1, 2001

Volume

52

Issue

4

Start / End Page

735 / 760

Related Subject Headings

  • Science Studies
  • 5003 Philosophy
  • 5002 History and philosophy of specific fields
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 2202 History and Philosophy of Specific Fields
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Rosenberg, A. (2001). How is biological explanation possible? British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 52(4), 735–760. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/52.4.735
Rosenberg, A. “How is biological explanation possible?British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52, no. 4 (January 1, 2001): 735–60. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/52.4.735.
Rosenberg A. How is biological explanation possible? British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. 2001 Jan 1;52(4):735–60.
Rosenberg, A. “How is biological explanation possible?British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, vol. 52, no. 4, Jan. 2001, pp. 735–60. Scopus, doi:10.1093/bjps/52.4.735.
Rosenberg A. How is biological explanation possible? British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. 2001 Jan 1;52(4):735–760.
Journal cover image

Published In

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

DOI

ISSN

0007-0882

Publication Date

January 1, 2001

Volume

52

Issue

4

Start / End Page

735 / 760

Related Subject Headings

  • Science Studies
  • 5003 Philosophy
  • 5002 History and philosophy of specific fields
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 2202 History and Philosophy of Specific Fields