Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2006
Publication Title
The American naturalist
Department
Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract
In this article, we consider the tension between unification and pluralism in biological theory. We begin with a consideration of historical efforts to establish a unified understanding of evolution in the neo-Darwinian synthesis. The fragmentation of the evolutionary synthesis by molecular evolution suggests the limitations of the general unificationist ideal for biology but not necessarily for integrating explanations. In the second half of this article, we defend a specific variety of pluralism that allows for the integration required for explanations of complex phenomena without unification on a large scale.
DOI
10.1086/509050
Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation
Dietrich, Michael and Mitchell, Sandra D., "Integration without unification: an argument for pluralism in the biological sciences" (2006). Dartmouth Scholarship. 22.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/22