From airport security to nuclear power and safety on trains to public health scares, debates about risk are rarely out of the headlines. How can we determine an acceptable level of risk? Should these decisions be made by experts, or by the people they affect? How should safety and security be balanced against other goods, such as liberty?

This is the first collection to examine the philosophical dimensions of these pressing practical problems. In this outstanding volume, Tim Lewens gathers an impressive set of new essays from leading scholars exploring the full range of philosophical implications of risk, including:

• risk and ethics
• risk and rationality
• risk and scientific expertise
• risk and lay knowledge
• the objectivity of risk assessment
• risk and the precautionary principle
• risk and terror.

With contributions from Carl F. Cranor, Sven Ove Hansson, MartinKusch, Tim Lewens, D.H. Mellor, Adam Morton, Stephen Perry, Martin Peterson, Alan Ryan, Per Sandin, Cass R. Sunstein and Jonathan Wolff; this collection is essential reading, not only for philosophers and researchers in legal, economic and environmental studies, but for those seeking to gain a better understanding of the decisions we must make as concerned citizens.

From airport security to nuclear power and safety on trains to public health scares, debates about risk are rarely out of the headlines. How can we determine an acceptable level of risk? Should these decisions be made by experts, or by the people they affect? How should safety and security be balanced against other goods, such as liberty?

This is the first collection to examine the philosophical dimensions of these pressing practical problems. In this outstanding volume, Tim Lewens gathers an impressive set of new essays from leading scholars exploring the full range of philosophical implications of risk, including:

• risk and ethics
• risk and rationality
• risk and scientific expertise
• risk and lay knowledge
• the objectivity of risk assessment
• risk and the precautionary principle
• risk and terror.

With contributions from Carl F. Cranor, Sven Ove Hansson, MartinKusch, Tim Lewens, D.H. Mellor, Adam Morton, Stephen Perry, Martin Peterson, Alan Ryan, Per Sandin, Cass R. Sunstein and Jonathan Wolff; this collection is essential reading, not only for philosophers and researchers in legal, economic and environmental studies, but for those seeking to gain a better understanding of the decisions we must make as concerned citizens.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) is best known as a biologist and natural historian rather than a philosopher. However, in this invaluable book, Tim Lewens shows in a clear and accessible manner how important Darwin is for philosophy and how his work has shaped and challenged the very nature of the subject.
Beginning with an overview of Darwins life and work, the subsequent chapters discuss the full range of fundamental philosophical topics from a Darwinian perspective. These include natural selection; the origin and nature of species; the role of evidence in scientific enquiry; the theory of Intelligent Design; evolutionary approaches to the human mind; the implications of Darwins work for ethics and epistemology; and the question of how social and political thought needs to be updated in the light of a Darwinian understanding of human nature. A concluding chapter assesses the philosophical legacy of Darwins thought.
"Darwin" is essential reading for anyone in the humanities, social sciences and sciences seeking a philosophical introduction to Darwin, or anyone simply seeking a philosophical companion to Darwins own writings.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) is best known as a biologist and natural historian rather than a philosopher. However, in this invaluable book, Tim Lewens shows in a clear and accessible manner how important Darwin is for philosophy and how his work has shaped and challenged the very nature of the subject.
Beginning with an overview of Darwins life and work, the subsequent chapters discuss the full range of fundamental philosophical topics from a Darwinian perspective. These include natural selection; the origin and nature of species; the role of evidence in scientific enquiry; the theory of Intelligent Design; evolutionary approaches to the human mind; the implications of Darwins work for ethics and epistemology; and the question of how social and political thought needs to be updated in the light of a Darwinian understanding of human nature. A concluding chapter assesses the philosophical legacy of Darwins thought.
"Darwin" is essential reading for anyone in the humanities, social sciences and sciences seeking a philosophical introduction to Darwin, or anyone simply seeking a philosophical companion to Darwins own writings.

Tim Lewens aims to understand what it means to take an evolutionary approach to cultural change, and why it is that this approach is often treated with suspicion. Convinced of the exceptional power of natural selection, many thinkers-typically working in biological anthropology, cognitive psychology, and evolutionary biology-have suggested it should be freed from the confines of biology, and applied to cultural change in humans and other animals. At the same time, others-typically with backgrounds in disciplines like social anthropology and history-have been just as vocal in dismissing the evolutionary approach to culture. What drives these disputes over Darwinism in the social sciences? While making a case for the value of evolutionary thinking for students of culture, Lewens shows why the concerns of sceptics should not dismissed as mere prejudice, confusion, or ignorance. Indeed, confusions about what evolutionary approaches entail are propagated by their proponents, as well as by their detractors. By taking seriously the problems faced by these approaches to culture, Lewens shows how such approaches can be better formulated, where their most significant limitations lie, and how the tools of cultural evolutionary thinking might become more widely accepted.