Reproducees, reproducers, and Darwinian individuals

This paper investigates the concept of reproduction in an evolutionary context. It draws a distinction between objects that are reproduced (reproducees), objects that reproduce thanks to some reproductive autonomy (reproducers), and Darwinian individuals that are reproducers with a high degree of reproductive causal control. This threefold distinction is then applied to different biological objects classically invoked in reproduction processes (e.g., genes, viruses, cells) to explain why they do not have the same status with respect to reproduction. The distinction also provides some fuel for the view proposed by Griesemer: that material overlap during reproduction is a condition for reproduction.