自然选择单位的问题解析

An Analysis of the Questions in Units of Natural Selection

自然选择原理是现代生物学的核心理论之一。但是自然选择了什么(个体、基因、群体)?这仍是生物学哲学的争议话题。本文回顾了个体选择、基因选择与群体选择(多元选择)的观点与问题。着重从"屏蔽"与"适应度"来批评现在最为流行的基因选择,为群体选择辩护。劳埃德把自然选择的单位与层次细分为互动子、复制子、受益者、适应表现者等四个问题,笔者认为最重要的仍是互动子问题。我们最好能够设计出判断自然选择单位的判决性实验,从而为解决这一哲学问题提供更好的科学依据。

Principe of Natural Selection is one of the fundamental theories in modern biology. However, nature selects what （individuals, genes, or groups）？ That is still controversial in the philosophy of biology. The paper reviews the points and problems of individual selection, genic selection, and group selection （multi-level selection）. The author tries to criticize genic selection, currently the most popular view, by screen-off principle and fitness curve, and to defend the theory of group selection. E. Lloycl analyzes the units and levels of natural selection into four questions., interactor, replicator, beneficiary, manifest of adaptation. The author thinks the interactor question is the most important. Perhaps the best way is to develop a crucial experiment to decide the units of natural selection, hopefully, that would provide better scientific evidence for the philosophical problem.