Suppes Predicate for Genetics and Natural Selection

Patrick Suppesʹ slogan that “to axiomatize a theory is to present a set-theoretical predicate” was used in the synthetic theory of evolution. The system presented here extends the axiomatics of the evolutionary theory presented by M. Williams to encompass aspects of genetics. Some biological implications of the system are discussed, including the relationship between the Darwinian concept of fitness, as applied to organisms, and the concept of fitness as applied to genotypes, as it is normally used in population genetics. This paper should be viewed as an adjunct to the speculations on the logical–mathematical foundations of biological sciences.