title: Confirmation and explaining how possible.
abstract: Confirmation in evolutionary biology depends on what biologists take to be the genuine rivals. Investigating what constrains the scope of biological possibility provides part of the story: explaining how possible helps determine what counts as a genuine rival and thus informs confirmation. To clarify the criteria for genuine rivalry I distinguish between global and local constraints on biological possibility, and offer an account of how-possibly explanation. To sharpen the connection between confirmation and explaining how possible I discuss the view that formal inquiry can provide a kind of confirmation-theoretic support for evolutionary models, and offer an example of how-possibly explanation interacting with testing practice.
authors.affiliation: Philosophy Department, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA. patrick.forber@tufts.edu
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Forber
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D001695:Biology; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D008954:Models, Biological