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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 11, 2026

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task

Published on: July 22, 2025

Selection explanations of token traits.

Brian McLoone¹

¹Department of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5185 Helen C. White Hall, 600 North Park Street, Madison, WI 53706, USA. mcloone@wisc.edu

Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

|June 1, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Natural selection can sometimes explain specific individual traits, challenging the "negative view." A refined negative view clarifies how selection explains allele differences within lineages, improving our understanding of evolutionary explanations.

Keywords:

Explanation Natural selection Negative view Tim Lewens

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Philosophy of science
Genetics

Background:

The "negative view" posits that natural selection cannot account for specific traits in individuals.
Existing philosophical accounts of natural selection's explanatory power require refinement.
The role of organism-level selection in explaining genetic variation is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate that the "negative view" is not universally true using a modified example.
To propose a revised formulation of the "negative view" concerning allele explanations.
To clarify the explanatory scope of natural selection at the organism level.

Main Methods:

Modification of a philosophical example from Lewens (2001) regarding natural selection.
Conceptual analysis of the explanatory claims of natural selection.
Formulation of a new perspective on selection's role in explaining allele frequencies.

Main Results:

The study shows that natural selection can, in some cases, explain why an individual possesses a particular trait.
A revised negative view is introduced, focusing on allele selection within lineages.
This new formulation better captures the explanatory function of natural selection.

Conclusions:

The "negative view" is an oversimplification; natural selection can explain individual trait differences.
Organism-level selection within a lineage provides a more accurate framework for explaining allele differences.
The revised negative view enhances our understanding of evolutionary mechanisms and explanations.