Adaptationism and optimality

"The debate over the relative importance of natural selection as compared to other forces affecting the evolution of organisms is a long-standing and central controversy in evolutionary biology. Adaptationism and Optimality presents an up-to-date view of this controversy and reflects the dramatic changes in our understanding of evolution that have occurred in the past 20 years. The volume combines contributions from biologists and philosophers and offers a systematic treatment of foundational, conceptual, and methodological issues. The essays examine recent developments in topics such as phylogenetic analysis, the theory of optimality and ESS models, and the methodology of hypothesis testing in evolutionary biology. The contributors' disagreement on fundamental aspects of this subject represents the diversity of opinion that makes this controversy so highly charged. These essays are intended to provide useful advice to "biologists in the trenches" but also to assess the larger theoretical and conceptual issues that form the basis of the current controversy." "This volume will serve to substantially advance the debate over adaptationism. It will be of interest to biologists, philosophers and historians of biology, anthropologists, psychologists, and cognitive scientists."--Jacket.