Mismatch Theories in Evolutionary Medicine: A Philosophical Exploration

This book investigates the limits and possibilities of mismatch theories in evolutionary medicine, a topic that has not yet received much attention in philosophy. Mismatch explanations are part of a broader attempt to establish evolutionary thinking as a foundation for human medicine. Although mismatch explanations are well-established in ecology to account for extinction risks, the ongoing attempts to transfer them into human medical contexts are riddled with conceptual and ethical problems. This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical presuppositions as well as the normative implications associated with mismatch theorizing in evolutionary medicine

onas Pöld is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Ethics, History and Theory of Medicine at the University of Münster. Previously, he has studied philosophy and comparative literature in Münster and Berlin and has written his doctoral dissertation as part of the interdisciplinary research training group EvoPAD, funded by the DFG. He has received a scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship foundation and an essay prize by the German Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP). Currently, he also serves as a member of the directorial board of the Hans-Albert-Institute (Berlin), a think-tank at the intersection of science and politics.