Research On Sober's Thought For Philosophy Of Science

Philosophy of Biology is an important branch of philosophy of science, it is concerned by more and more scholars and become a hot field in the research of philosophy of science in foreign countries. So the study on philosophy of biology can reveal the latest achievements of Biology, it not only has great theoretical significance, but also has important practical significance. Pr. Elliott Sober is the most famous scholar at the department of philosophy in University of Wisconsin, and his thought of philosophy of biology plays an important role in the field of philosophy. He published a large number of papers and books in the general philosophy of science, philosophy of biology and cognitive philosophy, several of the classical works have been translated into Chinese. In order to strengthen the international cooperation, in 1998, Pr. Sober has been invited in Beijing by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences philosophy, the Chinese Research association of dialectics of nature and the philosophy department of Beijing Normal University.On the basis of a wide range of materials collected, this paper will discuss the thought of the simple principle, nature selection model and the problem of Supervention. First, from the philosophical origin of the simple principle in early stage to the application of the simple principle in hypothesis choice in contemporary science, sober analyses the philosophical thinking of the simple principle. In different model selections, the roles of simplicity are different, so it reveals that the simple principle is no longer the traditional and comprehensive approach, which will greatly enrich and open to other scientific thinkings and problems. Second, from the controvertion of group selection and individual selection in the past to the exist of group selection in the human behavior and cultural evolution, it concludes that choice works act on different levels, there can be multiple choice model. Third, with the fuse of Supervention, this paper will develop further by the integration of biology and physics, the unification of Physics and Biology in new scientific paradigm. As we all know, scientific theories in each stage of the history are the most perfect knowledge on nature, but with the rapid development of science and technology, it will inevitably face the challenges of the new theory and absorb the reasonable elements in new theory. Only the scientific system of knowledge with continuous integration for new theory can better accomplish the construction.This paper will discuss sober's unique understanding of the issues on several areas of contemporary biology, in order to be able to control Pr. Sober's the thought essence, and better promote the forward-thinking exchange philosophy of science for scholars at home and abroad, and provide right rode for scientific activities.