University of Toronto
150 Charles St W
Toronto, ON M5S 1K5
Hybrid Event - To obtain the Zoom information, click on the here.
Forty years have passed since Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin published The Dialectical Biologist in 1985. At the time the publication was generally met with puzzlement and consternation, both for its radically transformed theory of evolution, and for its recognition of the inextricability of science and politics. In the intervening years, biology has changed, together with its philosophy and history, in many ways foreshadowed by Levins and Lewontin and many they could not have foreseen. Theoretical perspectives such as EvoDevo, niche construction theory, ecological developmental biology, the extended evolutionary synthesis, and the agency perspective in evolution have sparked rich debates concerning the structure of evolutionary theory, organism/environment relations, and the role of the organism in evolutionary dynamics. There has even been a renewed attention among historians in the revival of early 20th century organicist thinking, and a re-evaluation of the foundation of the modern synthesis. We invite participants to reconsider dialectical biology in light of contemporary biology, to re-evaluate contemporary biology in light of dialectical biology, and to reflect more broadly on the scientific, philosophical, and political legacies of the work of Lewontin and his many collaborators.
Schedule
Friday, October 10th
Session 1: Sonia Sultan, 12:30-2:00
Respondent: Jacinda Kalaher
Session 2: Ana M. Soto & Carlos Sonnenschein, 2:15-3:45
Respondent: Hongyu Chen
Keynote: Elliott Sober, 4-6
Co-authors: Philip Gasper, Abiral Chitraker Phunyal
Saturday, October 11th
Session 3: Denis Walsh, 9-10:15
Session 4: Christopher Shambaugh, 10:30-11:45
Session 5: Rasmus Winther, 1-2:30
Respondent: Emma Sigsworth
Session 6: Jonathan Basile, 2:45-4:00
Session 7: Stuart Newman, 4:15-5:45
Respondent: David Rattray
Sunday, October 12th
Session 8: Alejandro Fabrègas Tejeda, 9-10:15
Session 9: Andrea Gambarotto & Rebecca Riccardo Cuciniello (they/them), 10:30-11:45
Session 10: Fermín Fulda, 12-1:30
Respondent: Cassandra Williams