#1145 Javier Suárez: Units of Selection in Evolution

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Sep 4, 2025

Javier Suárez, a Lecturer in Philosophy at Universidad de Oviedo and author on the philosophy of biology, dives deep into the units of selection in evolution. He explores the historical debates on who or what qualifies as a unit of selection and examines the contrasting adaptationist versus evolutionary change schools of thought. Suárez also sheds light on symbiotic relationships, using vampire bats to illustrate microbiome partnerships, and challenges common misconceptions about natural selection and trait development.

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INSIGHT

What 'Unit Of Selection' Really Asks

The unit of selection question asks which entities natural selection 'sees' and whether they must be cohesive wholes.
Answering it mixes empirical questions (what evolves) and conceptual questions (what 'unit' means).

INSIGHT

Two Contrasting Views Of Evolution

The adaptationist school treats many traits as adaptations that need selective explanations.
The evolutionary change school focuses on selection as a process and accepts many traits as nonadaptive or nonfixed.

INSIGHT

Disambiguation Over Unification

The disambiguation project identifies multiple meanings behind 'unit of selection' instead of forcing one definition.
It maps how different research traditions use the term to avoid conceptual confusion.

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Dr. Javier Suárez is Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the Universidad de Oviedo. He is a philosopher of biology interested in the study of symbiotic interactions, and their implications for philosophy of biology (the concept of natural selection, the definition of species, etc.), and general philosophy of science (explanation, modelling, methodology of science, etc.). He is the author (with Elisabeth A. Lloyd) of Units of Selection (Cambridge University Press).

In this episode, we focus on Units of Selection. We start by discussing the debate surrounding units of selection in evolutionary biology. We talk about the Adaptationist and Evolutionary Change Schools, and the Disambiguation Project and the Unitary Project. We discuss three different concepts of “unit of selection”: interactor, replicator/reproducer/reconstitutor, and manifestor of adaptation/type-1 agent. Finally, we talk about the Evolutionary Transitions in Individuality framework.

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