This page intentionally left blank P1:JPJ/JLP P2:KOD 0521829453fm CB725-Weber-v3 June17,2004 14:37 Philosophy of Experimental Biology PhilosophyofExperimentalBiologyexploressomecentralphilosophicalissues concerning scientific research in modern experimental biology, including ge- netics,biochemistry,molecularbiology,developmentalbiology,neurobiology, and microbiology. It seeks to make sense of the explanatory strategies, con- cepts,waysofreasoning,approachestodiscoveryandproblemsolving,tools, models,andexperimentalsystemsdeployedbymodernlifescienceresearchers andalsointegratesrecentdevelopmentsinhistoricalscholarship,inparticular theNewExperimentalism.Itconcludesthathistoricalexplanationsofscientific changethatarebasedonlocallaboratorypracticeneedtobesupplementedwith anaccountoftheepistemicnormsandstandardsthatareoperativeinscience. Thisbookshouldbeofinteresttophilosophersandhistoriansofscienceaswell astoscientists. MarcelWeberisSwissNationalScienceFoundationProfessorofPhilosophy ofScienceattheUniversityofBasel,Switzerland. i P1:JPJ/JLP P2:KOD 0521829453fm CB725-Weber-v3 June17,2004 14:37 ii P1:JPJ/JLP P2:KOD 0521829453fm CB725-Weber-v3 June17,2004 14:37 cambridge studies in philosophy and biology GeneralEditor MichaelRuse FloridaStateUniversity AdvisoryBoard MichaelDonoghue YaleUniversity JeanGayon UniversityofParis JonathanHodge UniversityofLeeds JaneMaienschein ArizonaStateUniversity Jesu´sMoster´ın InstitutodeFilosof´ıa(SpanishResearchCouncil) ElliottSober UniversityofWisconsin Nils-ChristianStenseth UniversityofOslo DanielW.McShea DukeUniversity AlfredI.Tauber TheImmuneSelf:TheoryorMetaphor? ElliottSober FromaBiologicalPointofView RobertBrandon ConceptsandMethodsinEvolutionaryBiology PeterGodfrey-Smith ComplexityandtheFunctionofMindinNature WilliamA.Rottschaefer TheBiologyandPsychologyofMoralAgency SahotraSarkar GeneticsandReductionism JeanGayon Darwinism’sStruggleforSurvival JaneMaienscheinandMichaelRuse(eds.) BiologyandtheFoundation ofEthics JackWilson BiologicalIndividuality RichardCreathandJaneMaienschein(eds.) BiologyandEpistemology AlexanderRosenberg DarwinisminPhilosophy,SocialScience,andPolicy PeterBeurton,RaphaelFalk,andHans-Jo¨rgRheinberger(eds.) The ConceptoftheGeneinDevelopmentandEvolution DavidHull ScienceandSelection JamesG.Lennox Aristotle’sPhilosophyofBiology MarcEreshefsky ThePovertyoftheLinnaeanHierarchy KimSterelny TheEvolutionofAgencyandOtherEssays WilliamS.Cooper TheEvolutionofReason PeterMcLaughlin WhatFunctionsExplain StevenHechtOrzackandElliottSober(eds.) AdaptationismandOptimality BryanG.Norton SearchingforSustainability SandraD.Mitchell BiologicalComplexityandIntegrativePluralism GregoryJ.Cooper TheScienceoftheStruggleforExistence JosephLaPorte NaturalKindsandConceptualChange WilliamF.Harms Information&MeaninginEvolutionaryProcesses MarkkuOksanenandJuhaniPietarinen Philosophy&Biodiversity JasonScottRobert Embryology,Epigenesis,andEvolution iii P1:JPJ/JLP P2:KOD 0521829453fm CB725-Weber-v3 June17,2004 14:37 iv P1:JPJ/JLP P2:KOD 0521829453fm CB725-Weber-v3 June17,2004 14:37 Philosophy of Experimental Biology MARCEL WEBER UniversityofBasel v cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521829458 © Marcel Weber 2005 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2004 isbn-13 978-0-511-21173-7 eBook (EBL) isbn-10 0-511-21350-6 eBook (EBL) isbn-13 978-0-521-82945-8 hardback isbn-10 0-521-82945-3 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. P1:JPJ/JLP P2:KOD 0521829453fm CB725-Weber-v3 June17,2004 14:37 ForAndrea,Liliane,andArdian vii P1:JPJ/JLP P2:KOD 0521829453fm CB725-Weber-v3 June17,2004 14:37 viii