• DOI:10.1093/bjps/axx028
• Corpus ID: 46227062

Kin Selection, Group Selection, and the Varieties of Population Structure

@article{Birch2020KinSG,
  title={Kin Selection, Group Selection, and the Varieties of Population Structure},
  author={Jonathan Birch},
  journal={The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science},
  year={2020},
  volume={71},
  pages={259 - 286}
}

• Jonathan Birch
• Published 27 April 2017
• Mathematics
• The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

Various results show the ‘formal equivalence’ of kin and group selectionist methodologies, but this does not preclude there being a real and useful distinction between kin and group selection processes. I distinguish individual- and population-centred approaches to drawing such a distinction, and I proceed to develop the latter. On the account I advance, the differences between kin and group selection are differences of degree in the structural properties of populations. A spatial metaphor (‘K-G space’) provides a useful framework for thinking about these differences: kin and group selection may be conceptualized as large, overlapping regions of K-G space. I then consider some implications of the account, defend it from possible objections, and further argue that the structural features characteristic of both kin and group selection may recur at multiple levels of biological organization. 1 Introduction 2 Equivalence Results and Their Limitations   2.1 An example of an equivalence result   2.2 Limitations 3 Individual- and Population-Centred Approaches 4 Two Influences: Hamilton and Godfrey-Smith 5 K and G   5.1 K   5.2 G   5.3 K-G space 6 The rb ≠ 0 Requirement 7 Levels of Organization 8 The Key Substantive Questions 1 Introduction 2 Equivalence Results and Their Limitations   2.1 An example of an equivalence result   2.2 Limitations   2.1 An example of an equivalence result   2.2 Limitations 3 Individual- and Population-Centred Approaches 4 Two Influences: Hamilton and Godfrey-Smith 5 K and G   5.1 K   5.2 G   5.3 K-G space   5.1 K   5.2 G   5.3 K-G space 6 The rb ≠ 0 Requirement 7 Levels of Organization 8 The Key Substantive Questions