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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Kenneth Waters' 'actual difference making' account shows geneticists privilege genes because they explain actual population variation, not because genes are causally superior in principle.

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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Environmental factors also explain actual population variation systematically (e.g., nutrition, disease exposure); gene-privilege cannot rest on explanatory relevance alone.
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    • 2.Waters conflates pragmatic research focus with causal explanatory structure; scientists' toolkit reflects institutional constraints, not actual difference-making.
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    • 3.Gene-centric explanations succeed only because geneticists hold other causal factors constant; this methodological strategy doesn't justify privileging genes causally.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Geneticists consistently explain observed trait variation by identifying allelic differences, not by invoking environmental or developmental factors.
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    • 2.Waters' account avoids genetic determinism by grounding gene-privilege in explanatory practice rather than metaphysical causal hierarchy.
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    • 3.Population-level variation is the actual explanandum geneticists target; genes provide difference-making explanations for what varies across populations.
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