Abstract:
A long-standing problem in evolutionary theory is to clarify in what sense (if any) natural selection cumulatively improves the design of organisms. Various concepts, such as fitness and inclusive fitness, have been proposed to resolve this problem. In addition, there have been attempts to replace the original problem with more tractable questions, such as whether a given gene or trait is favored by selection. Here, we ask what theoretical properties the concept fitness should possess to encapsulate the improvement criterion required to talk meaningfully about adaptive evolution. We argue that natural selection tends to shape phenotypes based on the causal properties of individuals and that this tendency is, therefore, best captured by a fitness concept that focuses on these properties. We highlight a fitness concept that meets this role under broad conditions but requires adjustments in our conceptual understanding of adaptive evolution. These adjustments combine elements of Dawkinsian gene selectionism and Egbert Leigh\'s \"parliament of genes.\"
摘要:
进化论中一个长期存在的问题是澄清自然选择在什么意义上(如果有的话)累积改善了生物体的设计。各种概念,如健身和包容性健身,有人提出要解决这个问题。此外,有人试图用更容易处理的问题代替原来的问题,例如选择是否有利于给定的基因或性状。这里,我们询问概念适应度应该具备什么理论属性来封装有意义地谈论适应性进化所需的改进标准。我们认为自然选择倾向于根据个体的因果特性来塑造表型,这种趋势是,因此,最好由专注于这些属性的健身概念捕获。我们强调了在广泛条件下满足此作用的健身概念,但需要在我们对适应性进化的概念理解中进行调整。这些调整结合了Dawkinsian基因选择和EgbertLeigh的基因议会的元素。\"