Biological Individuality In this book, Jack Wilson brings together two lines of research, theoretical bi- ology and analytic metaphysics, that have dealt with the individuation of living entities in virtual isolation from one another. Wilson presents a new theory of biological individuality that addresses problems that cannot be solved by either field alone. Thewide range of unfamiliar and fascinating organisms that he uses to develop his view, including slimemolds, parasitic barnacles, and tardigrades, enables him to escape the limitations of theories based on thought experiments and the timeworn examples of organisms on which philosophers have tradi- tionally relied. He presents a more fine-grained vocabulary of individuation based on diverse kinds of living things. This allows him to clarify and resolve previously muddled disputes about individuality in biology and philosophy. This is a clearly written book of interest to philosophers of biology, meta- physicians, and biologists. Jack Wilson is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Washington and Lee University. CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY AND BIOLOGY General Editor Michael Ruse University of Guelph Advisory Board Michael Donoghue Harvard University Jean Gayon University of Paris Jonathan Hodge University of Leeds Jane Maienschein Arizona State University Jesus Mosterin University of Barcelona Elliott Sober University of Wisconsin Alfred I. Tauber: The Immune Self: Theory or Metaphor? Elliott Sober: From a Biological Point of View Robert Brandon: Concepts and Methods in Evolutionary Biology Peter Godfrey-Smith: Complexity and the Function of Mind in Nature William A. Rottschaefer: The Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency Sahotra Sarkar: Genetics and Reductionism Jean Gayon: Darwinism’s Struggle for Survival Jane Maienschein and Michael Ruse (eds.): Biology and the Foundation of Ethics Biological Individuality The Identity and Persistence of Living Entities JACK WILSON Washington and Lee University CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521624251 © Jack Wilson 1999 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1999 This digitally printed version 2007 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Wilson, Jack, 1968– Biological individuality : the identity and persistence of living entities / Jack Wilson. p. cm. – (Cambridge studies in philosophy and biology) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-521-62425-8 1. Biology – Philosophy. 2. Individuality. I. Title. II. Series. QH331.W555 1999 570´.1 – dc21 98–32177 CIP ISBN 978-0-521-62425-1 hardback ISBN 978-0-521-03688-7 paperback For Marjorie