Papers Published

1. Brandon, RN, The difference between selection and drift: A reply to Millstein, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 20 no. 1 (January, 2005), pp. 153-170, Springer Nature [doi].
   (last updated on 2025/04/05)

   Abstract:
   Millstein [Bio. Philos. 17 (2002) 33] correctly identies a serious problem with the view that natural selection and random drift are not conceptually distinct. She offers a solution to this problem purely in terms of differences between the processes of selection and drift. I show that this solution does not work, that it leaves the vast majority of real biological cases uncategorized. However, I do think there is a solution to the problem she raises, and I offer it here. My solution depends on solving the biological analogue of the reference class problem in probability theory and on the reality of individual fitnesses. © Springer 2005.