This book examines sociobiology and evolution from the scientific and philosophical perspectives. Both sociobiology and evolution are areas of modern biology fraught with controversy and misunderstanding, yet fundamental to a coherent view of human life. For scientists and philosophers of science, at issue are the basic underpinnings of biology: explanation, determination, teleology, reductionism, and hierarchy.
Professor Dyke describes the controversies involved, and argues that progress in sociobiology and evolution is hindered by an outmoded philosophical view of science – one that does not adequately take into account recent advances in our understanding of basic biological processes. The author aims to shift the focus from a philosophical understanding of biology to a dynamic, philosophically aware science.
"Dyke's book [...] is radical in both methodology and content [...] those dissatisfied with the dominant scientific paradigm will delight in Dyke's iconoclasm [...] his efforts to explain the emergence of living systems from prelife in chemical terms are admirable. Taken alone, they are worth the price of the book"
– John Collier, Biology and Philosophy