Levels and Hierarchies in Evolution
Abstract
Abstract I analyze the main characteristics of the hierarchy of levels of selection as manifestors of adaptation (i.e., hierarchy of levels of evolutionary organization) and show that, while ranked, this hierarchy is nonnested. Secondly, I consider a potential objection to my approach derived from Eronen and Ramsey’s (2025) claim that levels of organization should be teased apart from levels of selection . I argue that their approach rests on a failure to distinguish between interactors and manifestors of adaptation, for while a hierarchy of interactors does not correspond to a hierarchy of levels of organization, a hierarchy of manifestors does.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Philosophy and History of Science
Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
Embodied and Extended Cognition
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Philosophy of Science
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Pages
- 1–11
- Publication date
- 18 June 2026
- Language
- EN