Curriculum Vitae

Robert N. Brandon

Duke Box 90743, Durham, NC 27708-0743 +1 919 660 3067 (office)
(email)
Education

Ph.D.Harvard University1979
B.A.University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill1974
Areas of Interest

Philosophy of Science, 
Philosophy of Biology, 
Logic

Professional Service

University Committee
Board Member, John Hope Franklin Center, 2012 - present  
Chair of the Provost’s Committee on Misconduct in Research, January 2012  
Committee for Integration accross scales in the sciences, February 2006  
APT, 2006-07 academic year  
DGS
DGS-Duke Certificate Program in Philosophy of Biology, Duke Certificate Program in Philosophy of Biology, 2012 - present  
Center for Philosophy of Biology, February 2006  
Departmental Officer
Job officer; search committee., January 2012  
Chair, January 01, 2000 - June 30, 2004  
Departmental Committee
Graduate student admission committee, 2013  
Service to the Professional Community
External evaluator on tenure cases at Arizona State University and Tufts., External evaluator on tenure cases at Arizona State University and Tufts.. January 07, 2012, January 2012  
Manuscript referee for Biology and Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, and The British Journal for Philosophy of Science., Manuscript referee for Biology and Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, and The British Journal for Philosophy of Science.. January 07, 2012, January 2012  
Selected Recent Invited Talks

The ZFEL Explanation of Macro-evolutioary Diversity, Montpellier, France, 2013/07  
Causation in Biology, UNC-Chapel Hill, September 02, 2012  
February, Robert N. Brandon, “The ZFEL Explanation of Macroevolutionary Diversity” at the University of Vermont, Department of Biology,, 2011  
April, Robert N. Brandon, “The ZFEL Explanation of Macroevolutionary Diversity” at the University of Chicago, Conceptual Foundations of Evolution, 2011  
July, Robert N. Brandon - “Response to Critics” at the biennial meeting of the International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2011  
June, Robert N. Brandon, “The Hierarchical Nature of Biology’s First Law” at the annual Duke/Toronto/Montreal/Paris Consortium in Philosophy of Biology held in Paris, 2011  
Exporting Causal Knowledge in Biology: With and Without General Laws, Philosophy of Science Association meetings, Vancouver, CA, November 04, 2006  
Diversity and Complexity: Which Came First?, University of Montreal, May, 2006  
Historical, Structural and Functional Concepts: There is no Conflict, Paris, France, November 18, 2005  
The Principle Drift: Biology's First Law, The Konrad Lorenz Institute, Altenberg, Austria, September 24, 2005  
Doctoral Theses Directed

Leonore Z. Fleming, (0000)  
David Crawford, (0000)  

Publications

Books

  1. with Brandon, RN; Samson, R, Integrating Development and Evolution, edited by Samson, R; Brandon, R (2007), The MIT Press

Papers Published

  1. McShea, DW; Wang, SC; Brandon, RN, A quantitative formulation of biology's first law., Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, vol. 73 no. 6 (June, 2019), pp. 1101-1115
  2. Fleming, L; Brandon, R, Why flying dogs are rare: A general theory of luck in evolutionary transitions., Studies in history and philosophy of biological and biomedical sciences, vol. 49 (February, 2015), pp. 24-31
  3. Brandon, R; Fleming, L, Drift sometimes dominates selection, and vice versa: A reply to Clatterbuck, Sober and Lewontin, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 29 no. 4 (January, 2014), pp. 577-585, Springer Nature
  4. Brandon, RN; McShea, DW, Four solutions for four puzzles, edited by K. Sterelny, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 27 no. 5 (September, 2012), pp. 737-744, Springer Nature, ISSN 0169-3867
  5. Ramsey, G; Brandon, R, Why reciprocal altruism is not a kind of group selection, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 26 no. 3 (May, 2011), pp. 385-400, Springer Nature, ISSN 0169-3867
  6. R.N. Brandon, “Why Reciprocal Altruism is Not a Kind of Group Selection” (with Grant Ramsey) in Biology and Philosophy, (2011) Vol. 26, 3: 385-400. (2011)
  7. R.N. Brandon, “The Concept of the Environment in Evolutionary Theory,” in The Environment: Topics in Contemporary Philosophy, vol. 9 (ed. By M. O’Rouke and M. Slater) (2011), MIT Press
  8. R.N. Brandon, “A General Case for Functional Pluralism,” in Function: Selection and Mechanisms (ed. by P. Huneman) (2011), Springer
  9. Brandon, RN, A non-newtonian newtonian model of evolution: The ZFEL view, Philosophy of Science, vol. 77 no. 5 (January, 2010), pp. 702-715, University of Chicago Press
  10. Brandon, RN, The Principle of Drift: Biology's First Law, The Journal of Philosophy, vol. CII no. 7 (July, 2006), pp. 319-335, The Journal of Philosophy, Inc.
  11. 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
  12. Brandon, RN, The Units of Selection Revisited: The Modules of Selection, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 14 no. 2 (January, 1999), pp. 167-180, Springer Nature
  13. Brandon, RN, Does biology have laws? The experimental evidence, Philosophy of Science, vol. 64 no. 4 SUPPL. 1 (January, 1997)
  14. Brandon, RN, Discussion: Reply to Hitchcock, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 12 no. 4 (January, 1997), pp. 531-538, Springer Nature
  15. Brandon, RN; Rausher, MD, Testing adaptationism: A comment on Orzack and Sober, American Naturalist, vol. 148 no. 1 (January, 1996), pp. 189-201, University of Chicago Press
  16. Brandon, RN; Carson, S, The indeterministic character of evolutionary theory: No "No hidden variables proof" but no room for determinism either, Philosophy of Science, vol. 63 no. 3 (January, 1996), pp. 315-337, University of Chicago Press
  17. Brandon, RN, Theory and experiment in evolutionary biology, Synthese, vol. 99 no. 1 (April, 1994), pp. 59-73, Springer Nature
  18. Mishler, BD; Brandon, RN, Sex and the individuality of species: A response to Ghiselin, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 4 no. 1 (January, 1989), pp. 77-79, Springer Nature
  19. Mishler, BD; Brandon, RN, Individuality, pluralism, and the phylogenetic species concept, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 2 no. 4 (October, 1987), pp. 397-414, Springer Nature
  20. Brandon, RN; Hornstein, N, From icons to symbols: Some speculations on the origins of language, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 1 no. 2 (June, 1986), pp. 169-189
  21. Brandon, RN, Biological teleology: Questions and explanations, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, vol. 12 no. 2 (January, 1981), pp. 91-105, Elsevier BV
  22. Brandon, RN, Adaptation and evolutionary theory, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, vol. 9 no. 3 (January, 1978), pp. 181-206, Elsevier BV

Papers Accepted

  1. Brandon, RN; Nijhout, HF, The Empirical Nonequivalence of Genic and Genotypic Models of Selection: A (Decisive) Refutation of Genic Selectionism and Pluralistic Genic Selectionism, in Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology: Volume I (January, 2017), pp. 383-404, ISBN 9780754627531
  2. Brandon, RN; Rausher, MD, TESTING ADAPTATIONISM: A COMMENT ON ORZACK AND SOBER, in Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology: Volume I (January, 2017), pp. 133-146, ISBN 9780754627531
  3. Brandon, RN; Carson, S, THE INDETERMINISTIC CHARACTER OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY: NO "NO HIDDEN VARIABLES PROOF" BUT NO ROOM FOR DETERMINISM EITHER, in Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology: Volume I (January, 2017), pp. 213-236, ISBN 9780754627531
  4. Brandon, RN, A general case for functional pluralism, in Functions: Selection and Mechanisms, edited by Huneman, P (January, 2013), pp. 97-104, Springer Netherlands, ISBN 9789400753037
  5. Brandon, RN, A General Case for Functional Pluralism, in Synthese Library, vol. 363 (January, 2013), pp. 97-104
  6. Brandon, RN, The Concept of the Environment in Evolutionary Theory, in The Environment: Topics in Contemporary Philosophy, edited by O'rourke, M; Slater, M, vol. 9 (2011), pp. 19-35, MIT Press, ISBN 9780262017404
  7. Brandon, RN, Teleology in self-organizing systems, in Self-Organization and Emergence in Life Sciences (December, 2006), pp. 267-281, Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN 9781402039164
  8. with Brandon, RN; Ramsey, G, What’s Wrong with the Emergentist Statistical Interpretation of Natural Selection and Random Drift, in The Cambridge Companion to Philosophy of Biology, edited by Ruse, M; Hull, D (2006), Cambridge University Press

Papers Submitted

  1. with Grant Ramsey, Toward a Pluralistic Account of Altruism: Why Reciprical Alturism is Not a Kind of Group Selection, Philosophy of Science (2006), Philosophy of Science Association
Last modified: 2024/04/24