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.
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Brandon, R.N. The Difference Between Selection and Drift: A Reply to Millstein. Biol Philos 20, 153–170 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-004-1070-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-004-1070-9