 Natural selection is chiefly discussed in two different ways among contemporary philosophers and biologists. One usage, the “focused” one, aims to capture only a single element of one iteration of Darwin’s process under the rubric “natural selection”, while the other, the “capacious” usage, aims to capture a full cycle under the same rubric. These are clearly alternative, non-competing uses of the term, and distinct philosophical controversies surround each one. This section distinguishes these two uses and the following two sections are dedicated to the debates that surround each one. Sections 4 and 5 consider how natural selection connects to explanation and causation. 