Abstract
We thank Paul Griffiths, Samir Okasha, and Kim Sterelny for devoting what must have been considerable time, energy and care to scrutinising our book – we are quite aware that it is not always an ‘easy read’ and for their thoughtful and stimulating remarks. We sense that all three ‘see the big picture’ and we are greatly encouraged by their enthusiasm and positive comments. They raise many interesting issues, but the broadly supportive tone of these commentaries encourages us to believe that the niche-construction perspective has a strong theoretical foundation. The major questions, or reservations, raised relate to (1) the breadth and inclusive nature of our conceptions of ‘niche construction’ and ‘ecological inheritance’, (2) our emphasis on ‘genetic information’ and ‘semantic information’, (3) our claim that niche construction is a ‘selective’, ‘predictive’ and ‘profitable’ process, (4) ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ niche construction, and how they associate with fitness, and (5) whether ‘The Extended Phenotype’ offers a more compelling alternative.
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