John Alcock
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195182743
- eISBN:
- 9780199790005
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182743.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This book reviews a variety of evolutionary themes and uses the small terrestrial orchids of Australia to introduce and illustrate these themes. Among the topics explored are the competing ideas of ...
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This book reviews a variety of evolutionary themes and uses the small terrestrial orchids of Australia to introduce and illustrate these themes. Among the topics explored are the competing ideas of biologists who use the theory of natural selection when examining possible adaptations (such as the ability of orchid flowers to attract special pollinators) and those who reject this approach, including creationists as well as the late Stephen Jay Gould. Darwin’s own ideas on the topic are reviewed as his work on adaptive plant behavior, given that orchids provide examples of flowers with moving parts. In addition, the book outlines the ability of evolutionary biologists to trace the origin and subsequent modification of complex traits like the extraordinarily unusual flowers of certain orchids. The book also employs Australian orchids to demonstrate the challenges of determining what a species is and how to preserve the biodiversity that still exists in the world.Less
This book reviews a variety of evolutionary themes and uses the small terrestrial orchids of Australia to introduce and illustrate these themes. Among the topics explored are the competing ideas of biologists who use the theory of natural selection when examining possible adaptations (such as the ability of orchid flowers to attract special pollinators) and those who reject this approach, including creationists as well as the late Stephen Jay Gould. Darwin’s own ideas on the topic are reviewed as his work on adaptive plant behavior, given that orchids provide examples of flowers with moving parts. In addition, the book outlines the ability of evolutionary biologists to trace the origin and subsequent modification of complex traits like the extraordinarily unusual flowers of certain orchids. The book also employs Australian orchids to demonstrate the challenges of determining what a species is and how to preserve the biodiversity that still exists in the world.
Wallace Matson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812691
- eISBN:
- 9780199919420
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812691.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
After a Darwinian-type account of what beliefs are and how they arose in animals acting to cope with their environments–“low beliefs,” virtually all of which are true–Professor Matson shows how the ...
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After a Darwinian-type account of what beliefs are and how they arose in animals acting to cope with their environments–“low beliefs,” virtually all of which are true–Professor Matson shows how the invention of language led to imagination and thence to beliefs formed in other ways (“high beliefs”), not true though thought to be, which could be consolidated into mythologies, the first Grand Unified Theories of Everything. Science began when Thales of Miletus produced a Grand Theory based on low (“everyday”) beliefs. Matson traces the course of science and philosophy through seven centuries to their sudden and violent displacement by Christianity with its Grand Theory of the old type. Against the widespread opinion that modern philosophy has slowly but completely emancipated itself from bondage to theology, he shows how remnants from the medieval ‘interlude’ still lurk unnoticed in the purportedly neutral notions of logical possibility, possible worlds, and laws as commands, to the detriment of the natural harmony between science and philosophy, including ethics. Accessibly written, this is a book for all who are interested in the foundations of 21st century thought and who wonder where the cracks might be.Less
After a Darwinian-type account of what beliefs are and how they arose in animals acting to cope with their environments–“low beliefs,” virtually all of which are true–Professor Matson shows how the invention of language led to imagination and thence to beliefs formed in other ways (“high beliefs”), not true though thought to be, which could be consolidated into mythologies, the first Grand Unified Theories of Everything. Science began when Thales of Miletus produced a Grand Theory based on low (“everyday”) beliefs. Matson traces the course of science and philosophy through seven centuries to their sudden and violent displacement by Christianity with its Grand Theory of the old type. Against the widespread opinion that modern philosophy has slowly but completely emancipated itself from bondage to theology, he shows how remnants from the medieval ‘interlude’ still lurk unnoticed in the purportedly neutral notions of logical possibility, possible worlds, and laws as commands, to the detriment of the natural harmony between science and philosophy, including ethics. Accessibly written, this is a book for all who are interested in the foundations of 21st century thought and who wonder where the cracks might be.
John Dupré
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199284214
- eISBN:
- 9780191700286
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284214.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
Charles Darwin transformed our understanding of the universe and our place in it with his development of the theory of evolution. One hundred and fifty years later, we are still puzzling over the ...
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Charles Darwin transformed our understanding of the universe and our place in it with his development of the theory of evolution. One hundred and fifty years later, we are still puzzling over the implications. This book presents an introduction to evolution and what it means for our view of humanity, the natural world, and religion. The author explains the right and the wrong ways to understand evolution: in the latter category fall most of the claims of evolutionary psychology, of which the author gives a withering critique. He shows why the theory of evolution is one of the most important scientific ideas of all time, but makes clear that it cannot explain everything — contrary to widespread popular belief, it has very little to tell us about the details of human nature and human behaviour, such as language, culture, and sexuality.Less
Charles Darwin transformed our understanding of the universe and our place in it with his development of the theory of evolution. One hundred and fifty years later, we are still puzzling over the implications. This book presents an introduction to evolution and what it means for our view of humanity, the natural world, and religion. The author explains the right and the wrong ways to understand evolution: in the latter category fall most of the claims of evolutionary psychology, of which the author gives a withering critique. He shows why the theory of evolution is one of the most important scientific ideas of all time, but makes clear that it cannot explain everything — contrary to widespread popular belief, it has very little to tell us about the details of human nature and human behaviour, such as language, culture, and sexuality.
Wallace Matson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812691
- eISBN:
- 9780199919420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812691.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Organic Darwinian evolution is over, having been brought to an end by the vast explosion of technology that enables people to determine which species shall survive and which perish. This includes the ...
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Organic Darwinian evolution is over, having been brought to an end by the vast explosion of technology that enables people to determine which species shall survive and which perish. This includes the evolution of people themselves. Though we live now in groups of many millions, the evolutionary stage at which we are stuck is that of the forty-member hunter-gatherer band. Edifying high beliefs, providentially there already when agriculture and civilization began, took on vastly enhanced importance as the social glue making cities and states and empires possible. And instead of the individual shaman of the band, civilization required and produced a class of professional priests, whose prestige and livelihood was bound up with the preservation of high beliefs.Political units in Egypt and the East were huge, whereas in the West they seldom exceeded the bounds of individual cities. This difference had a profound effect on the conceptions of the universe current in them.Less
Organic Darwinian evolution is over, having been brought to an end by the vast explosion of technology that enables people to determine which species shall survive and which perish. This includes the evolution of people themselves. Though we live now in groups of many millions, the evolutionary stage at which we are stuck is that of the forty-member hunter-gatherer band. Edifying high beliefs, providentially there already when agriculture and civilization began, took on vastly enhanced importance as the social glue making cities and states and empires possible. And instead of the individual shaman of the band, civilization required and produced a class of professional priests, whose prestige and livelihood was bound up with the preservation of high beliefs.Political units in Egypt and the East were huge, whereas in the West they seldom exceeded the bounds of individual cities. This difference had a profound effect on the conceptions of the universe current in them.
P. Kyle Stanford
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195174083
- eISBN:
- 9780199786367
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195174089.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The incredible achievements of modern scientific theories lead most of us to embrace scientific realism: the view that our best theories offer us at least roughly accurate descriptions of otherwise ...
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The incredible achievements of modern scientific theories lead most of us to embrace scientific realism: the view that our best theories offer us at least roughly accurate descriptions of otherwise inaccessible parts of the world like genes, atoms, and the big bang. This book argues that careful attention to the history of scientific investigation invites a challenge to this view that is not well represented in contemporary debates about the nature of the scientific enterprise. The historical record of scientific inquiry, the book suggests, is characterized by the problem of unconceived alternatives. Past scientists have routinely failed even to conceive of alternatives to their own theories and lines of theoretical investigation, alternatives that were both well-confirmed by the evidence available at the time and sufficiently serious as to be ultimately accepted by later scientific communities. The book supports this claim with a detailed investigation of the mid-to-late 19th-century theories of inheritance and generation proposed in turn by Charles Darwin, Francis Galton, and August Weismann. It goes on to argue that this historical pattern strongly suggests that there are equally well-confirmed and scientifically serious alternatives to our own best theories that remain currently unconceived. Moreover, this challenge is more serious than those rooted in either the so-called pessimistic induction or the underdetermination of theories by evidence, in part because existing realist responses to these latter challenges offer no relief from the problem of unconceived alternatives itself.Less
The incredible achievements of modern scientific theories lead most of us to embrace scientific realism: the view that our best theories offer us at least roughly accurate descriptions of otherwise inaccessible parts of the world like genes, atoms, and the big bang. This book argues that careful attention to the history of scientific investigation invites a challenge to this view that is not well represented in contemporary debates about the nature of the scientific enterprise. The historical record of scientific inquiry, the book suggests, is characterized by the problem of unconceived alternatives. Past scientists have routinely failed even to conceive of alternatives to their own theories and lines of theoretical investigation, alternatives that were both well-confirmed by the evidence available at the time and sufficiently serious as to be ultimately accepted by later scientific communities. The book supports this claim with a detailed investigation of the mid-to-late 19th-century theories of inheritance and generation proposed in turn by Charles Darwin, Francis Galton, and August Weismann. It goes on to argue that this historical pattern strongly suggests that there are equally well-confirmed and scientifically serious alternatives to our own best theories that remain currently unconceived. Moreover, this challenge is more serious than those rooted in either the so-called pessimistic induction or the underdetermination of theories by evidence, in part because existing realist responses to these latter challenges offer no relief from the problem of unconceived alternatives itself.
Anthony O'Hear
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198250043
- eISBN:
- 9780191598111
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198250045.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The theory of evolution may be successful in explaining natural history, but it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and rationality, as embodied in ...
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The theory of evolution may be successful in explaining natural history, but it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and rationality, as embodied in language, we give ourselves ideals that cannot be justified in terms of survival‐promotion or reproductive advantage. Evolutionary theory is unable to give satisfactory accounts of such distinctive features of human life as the quest for knowledge, our moral sense, and the appreciation of beauty. At most, it can account for their prefiguration at some earlier stage of development than the human. In all these areas we transcend our biological origins, and such mechanisms as genetic survival, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, and sexual selection. But because of our rationality we can also transcend our cultural inheritance explanation of which in terms of memes is both hollow and misleading. We are rooted both in our biology and in our cultural inheritance; but, sociobiology and sociology notwithstanding, we are prisoners neither of our genes nor of the ideas we encounter as we each make our personal journey through life.Less
The theory of evolution may be successful in explaining natural history, but it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and rationality, as embodied in language, we give ourselves ideals that cannot be justified in terms of survival‐promotion or reproductive advantage. Evolutionary theory is unable to give satisfactory accounts of such distinctive features of human life as the quest for knowledge, our moral sense, and the appreciation of beauty. At most, it can account for their prefiguration at some earlier stage of development than the human. In all these areas we transcend our biological origins, and such mechanisms as genetic survival, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, and sexual selection. But because of our rationality we can also transcend our cultural inheritance explanation of which in terms of memes is both hollow and misleading. We are rooted both in our biology and in our cultural inheritance; but, sociobiology and sociology notwithstanding, we are prisoners neither of our genes nor of the ideas we encounter as we each make our personal journey through life.
P. Kyle Stanford
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195174083
- eISBN:
- 9780199786367
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195174089.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter focuses on the history of our theorizing about the phenomena of generation and inheritance. It attempts to show that according to historical records, our efforts to theorize about ...
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This chapter focuses on the history of our theorizing about the phenomena of generation and inheritance. It attempts to show that according to historical records, our efforts to theorize about inheritance and generation continued to be plagued by the problem of unconceived alternatives long after we came to embrace substantive evidential, metaphysical, and methodological constraints essentially continuous with those of the present day. It is argued that Darwin shows no evidence of having considered and rejected the idea that similarities between ancestors and offspring might be results of a common cause rather than links in a causal chain, and indeed shows no evidence of even having been able to understand this line of thought when it was explicitly presented to him directly by Galton. Instead the most natural conclusion to draw from the historical evidence is that Darwin simply failed to conceive of or consider the entire class of theoretical alternatives to pangenesis picked out by this idea, notwithstanding the fact that it offered an equally promising strategy for explaining what he took to be the central phenomena of inheritance and generation.Less
This chapter focuses on the history of our theorizing about the phenomena of generation and inheritance. It attempts to show that according to historical records, our efforts to theorize about inheritance and generation continued to be plagued by the problem of unconceived alternatives long after we came to embrace substantive evidential, metaphysical, and methodological constraints essentially continuous with those of the present day. It is argued that Darwin shows no evidence of having considered and rejected the idea that similarities between ancestors and offspring might be results of a common cause rather than links in a causal chain, and indeed shows no evidence of even having been able to understand this line of thought when it was explicitly presented to him directly by Galton. Instead the most natural conclusion to draw from the historical evidence is that Darwin simply failed to conceive of or consider the entire class of theoretical alternatives to pangenesis picked out by this idea, notwithstanding the fact that it offered an equally promising strategy for explaining what he took to be the central phenomena of inheritance and generation.
P. Kyle Stanford
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195174083
- eISBN:
- 9780199786367
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195174089.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter begins with a discussion of Galton's transfusion experiments and his development of the “stirp” theory of inheritance. It then discusses Galton's understanding of “correlation” and “ ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of Galton's transfusion experiments and his development of the “stirp” theory of inheritance. It then discusses Galton's understanding of “correlation” and “ variable influences” in development. It is argued that just as Darwin failed to conceive of the very possibility of any common-cause mechanism for inheritance, after surmounting this conceptual obstacle Galton failed in turn to conceive of any alternatives to the maturational and invariant aspects of his own account of particulate inheritance.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of Galton's transfusion experiments and his development of the “stirp” theory of inheritance. It then discusses Galton's understanding of “correlation” and “ variable influences” in development. It is argued that just as Darwin failed to conceive of the very possibility of any common-cause mechanism for inheritance, after surmounting this conceptual obstacle Galton failed in turn to conceive of any alternatives to the maturational and invariant aspects of his own account of particulate inheritance.
John Dupré
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199284214
- eISBN:
- 9780191700286
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284214.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
Countless features of human evolution cannot be explained in detail by Charles Darwin's theory, as abstract models are more represented than the tiny part of the totality. Scientific works are, ...
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Countless features of human evolution cannot be explained in detail by Charles Darwin's theory, as abstract models are more represented than the tiny part of the totality. Scientific works are, however, being developed, and this is one of the positive sides of the book, taking into account the power of genes on evolution through scientific methodologies. Science and culture play differing roles on the evolutionary perspective of humans, as various studies such as those that deal with fossils are considered. Although science has not told all the important things to understand about the world, the explanations and satisfaction of having known something takes away the ignorance. Still, there are religious and superstitious mythologies that influence human culture but this philosophy is argued as part of human evolution.Less
Countless features of human evolution cannot be explained in detail by Charles Darwin's theory, as abstract models are more represented than the tiny part of the totality. Scientific works are, however, being developed, and this is one of the positive sides of the book, taking into account the power of genes on evolution through scientific methodologies. Science and culture play differing roles on the evolutionary perspective of humans, as various studies such as those that deal with fossils are considered. Although science has not told all the important things to understand about the world, the explanations and satisfaction of having known something takes away the ignorance. Still, there are religious and superstitious mythologies that influence human culture but this philosophy is argued as part of human evolution.
Gloria L. Schaab
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195329124
- eISBN:
- 9780199785711
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329124.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Chapter 2 explores the epic of an evolving universe in order to understand the entities, structures, and processes that disclose the nature, attributes, and purposes of its Creator. This exploration ...
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Chapter 2 explores the epic of an evolving universe in order to understand the entities, structures, and processes that disclose the nature, attributes, and purposes of its Creator. This exploration investigates insights regarding the origin of the cosmos and engages scientific theories that challenge classical conceptions of the God‐world relationship. It focuses on Darwinian and neo‐Darwinian theories that suggest an ongoing creativity immanent in the cosmos itself. It probes the interaction of law and chance that suggests freedom and autonomy inherent in the evolving cosmos and that raises questions concerning the operation of divine omnipotence and omniscience in relation to cosmic events. Arriving at the conclusion that such cosmic freedom and autonomy implies an intrinsic measure of risk, pain, suffering, and even death for its creatures and its Creator, this exploration finds itself in an inexorable movement toward the inference of the suffering of God in, with, and under the suffering of the cosmos.Less
Chapter 2 explores the epic of an evolving universe in order to understand the entities, structures, and processes that disclose the nature, attributes, and purposes of its Creator. This exploration investigates insights regarding the origin of the cosmos and engages scientific theories that challenge classical conceptions of the God‐world relationship. It focuses on Darwinian and neo‐Darwinian theories that suggest an ongoing creativity immanent in the cosmos itself. It probes the interaction of law and chance that suggests freedom and autonomy inherent in the evolving cosmos and that raises questions concerning the operation of divine omnipotence and omniscience in relation to cosmic events. Arriving at the conclusion that such cosmic freedom and autonomy implies an intrinsic measure of risk, pain, suffering, and even death for its creatures and its Creator, this exploration finds itself in an inexorable movement toward the inference of the suffering of God in, with, and under the suffering of the cosmos.
Terryl C. Givens
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195167115
- eISBN:
- 9780199785599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167115.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Education is fundamental in Mormonism. Joseph Smith studied Hebrew, and established a School of the Prophets and the University of Nauvoo. Print culture was central to the Mormon church, and early ...
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Education is fundamental in Mormonism. Joseph Smith studied Hebrew, and established a School of the Prophets and the University of Nauvoo. Print culture was central to the Mormon church, and early leaders like Orson Pratt and Parley Pratt laid the foundations for an intellectual tradition. Early Mormon intellectual culture was capacious enough to accommodate Darwin and evolution, though that would change.Less
Education is fundamental in Mormonism. Joseph Smith studied Hebrew, and established a School of the Prophets and the University of Nauvoo. Print culture was central to the Mormon church, and early leaders like Orson Pratt and Parley Pratt laid the foundations for an intellectual tradition. Early Mormon intellectual culture was capacious enough to accommodate Darwin and evolution, though that would change.
John Richardson
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195171037
- eISBN:
- 9780199786084
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195171039.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Nietzsche wrote in a scientific culture transformed by Darwin. He read extensively in German and about British Darwinists, and his own works dealt often with such obvious Darwinian themes as struggle ...
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Nietzsche wrote in a scientific culture transformed by Darwin. He read extensively in German and about British Darwinists, and his own works dealt often with such obvious Darwinian themes as struggle and evolution. Yet most of what Nietzsche said about Darwin was hostile: he sharply attacked many of his ideas, and often slurred Darwin himself as mediocre, so most readers of Nietzsche have inferred that he must have cast Darwin quite aside. But in fact, this book argues, Nietzsche was deeply and pervasively influenced by Darwin. He stressed his disagreements, but was silent about several core points he took over from Darwin. Moreover, the book claims, these Darwinian borrowings were to Nietzsche's credit: when we bring them to the surface we discover his positions to be much stronger than we had thought. Even Nietzsche's radical innovations are more plausible when we expose their Darwinian ground; we see that they amount to a new Darwinism.Less
Nietzsche wrote in a scientific culture transformed by Darwin. He read extensively in German and about British Darwinists, and his own works dealt often with such obvious Darwinian themes as struggle and evolution. Yet most of what Nietzsche said about Darwin was hostile: he sharply attacked many of his ideas, and often slurred Darwin himself as mediocre, so most readers of Nietzsche have inferred that he must have cast Darwin quite aside. But in fact, this book argues, Nietzsche was deeply and pervasively influenced by Darwin. He stressed his disagreements, but was silent about several core points he took over from Darwin. Moreover, the book claims, these Darwinian borrowings were to Nietzsche's credit: when we bring them to the surface we discover his positions to be much stronger than we had thought. Even Nietzsche's radical innovations are more plausible when we expose their Darwinian ground; we see that they amount to a new Darwinism.
Terence Ball
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198279952
- eISBN:
- 9780191598753
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279957.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Many commentators have claimed that Marx's materialist conception of history owes something to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. Why else, they ask, would Marx have offered to dedicate a ...
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Many commentators have claimed that Marx's materialist conception of history owes something to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. Why else, they ask, would Marx have offered to dedicate a volume of Capital to Darwin? I argue, to the contrary, that Marx never made such an offer and that it would have been surprising if he had done so. Claims about a connection, methodological or otherwise, between Marx and Darwin are chimerical.Less
Many commentators have claimed that Marx's materialist conception of history owes something to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. Why else, they ask, would Marx have offered to dedicate a volume of Capital to Darwin? I argue, to the contrary, that Marx never made such an offer and that it would have been surprising if he had done so. Claims about a connection, methodological or otherwise, between Marx and Darwin are chimerical.
C. Stephen Evans
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199217168
- eISBN:
- 9780191712401
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217168.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter argues that the theistic natural sign of “beneficial order” lies at the foundation of many of the teleological arguments for God's existence. This sign provides more content about God ...
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This chapter argues that the theistic natural sign of “beneficial order” lies at the foundation of many of the teleological arguments for God's existence. This sign provides more content about God than the sign of cosmic wonder. Various forms of the argument are examined and developed, including the classic one given by Aquinas. The “fine‐tuning” of the physical universe, while it may provide support for a teleological argument, is not a natural sign, because it fails the Wide Accessibility Principle test. Darwinian evolutionary theory does not undermine the claim that beneficial order is a theistic natural sign. The chapter concludes by showing that Hume and Kant, both of whom rejected teleological arguments as proofs, still recognized the force of the sign that lies at the heart of the arguments. This fact, combined with our own experiences, gives us good reason to think that beneficial order is a theistic natural sign.Less
This chapter argues that the theistic natural sign of “beneficial order” lies at the foundation of many of the teleological arguments for God's existence. This sign provides more content about God than the sign of cosmic wonder. Various forms of the argument are examined and developed, including the classic one given by Aquinas. The “fine‐tuning” of the physical universe, while it may provide support for a teleological argument, is not a natural sign, because it fails the Wide Accessibility Principle test. Darwinian evolutionary theory does not undermine the claim that beneficial order is a theistic natural sign. The chapter concludes by showing that Hume and Kant, both of whom rejected teleological arguments as proofs, still recognized the force of the sign that lies at the heart of the arguments. This fact, combined with our own experiences, gives us good reason to think that beneficial order is a theistic natural sign.
William P. Brown
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199730797
- eISBN:
- 9780199777075
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730797.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Theology
God’s answer to Job is the focus of this chapter. God presents a panoramic sweep of creation that comprises the cosmic, the meteorological, and the biological. Its primary focus, however, is on the ...
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God’s answer to Job is the focus of this chapter. God presents a panoramic sweep of creation that comprises the cosmic, the meteorological, and the biological. Its primary focus, however, is on the diversity and vitality of animal life in the wilderness. What was considered marginal from Job’s perspective now takes center stage in God’s answer, which reflects God’s biophilia. While de-centered, Job is shown to be integrally related to the wild. He was made by God “with” Behemoth, suggesting Job is linked with all creatures, including monstrous Leviathan. Biology, too, discerns a link that connects all life on Earth, a genetic link (DNA). God’s answer, moreover, takes Job on a grand tour of taxonomy, not unlike Charles Darwin’s around-the-world voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle early in his career. Read in the light of evolution, Job presents a powerful testimony to biodiversity and affirms the intrinsic value of all life.Less
God’s answer to Job is the focus of this chapter. God presents a panoramic sweep of creation that comprises the cosmic, the meteorological, and the biological. Its primary focus, however, is on the diversity and vitality of animal life in the wilderness. What was considered marginal from Job’s perspective now takes center stage in God’s answer, which reflects God’s biophilia. While de-centered, Job is shown to be integrally related to the wild. He was made by God “with” Behemoth, suggesting Job is linked with all creatures, including monstrous Leviathan. Biology, too, discerns a link that connects all life on Earth, a genetic link (DNA). God’s answer, moreover, takes Job on a grand tour of taxonomy, not unlike Charles Darwin’s around-the-world voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle early in his career. Read in the light of evolution, Job presents a powerful testimony to biodiversity and affirms the intrinsic value of all life.
Rodrigo H. Bustamante, Thomas A. Okey, and Stuart Banks
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195319958
- eISBN:
- 9780199869596
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195319958.003.0006
- Subject:
- Biology, Aquatic Biology
This chapter describes ecology of the Galapagos rocky reef system and the important role of biogeographic position on biodiversity, the El Niño cycle, and the history of resource extraction on the ...
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This chapter describes ecology of the Galapagos rocky reef system and the important role of biogeographic position on biodiversity, the El Niño cycle, and the history of resource extraction on the current state of the ecosystem. The chapter presents a model of the energetic pathways in the ecosystem and its predictions for fisheries yields and the role of key species. The history of exploitation is outlined as well as the role of the current marine protected areas to develop sustainable management system.Less
This chapter describes ecology of the Galapagos rocky reef system and the important role of biogeographic position on biodiversity, the El Niño cycle, and the history of resource extraction on the current state of the ecosystem. The chapter presents a model of the energetic pathways in the ecosystem and its predictions for fisheries yields and the role of key species. The history of exploitation is outlined as well as the role of the current marine protected areas to develop sustainable management system.
Jan Sapp
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195156195
- eISBN:
- 9780199790340
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195156195.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This book presents a history of the last two centuries of biology. It covers early evolutionary biology — Lamarck, Cuvier, Darwin, and Wallace through to Mayr and the neodarwinian synthesis — and ...
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This book presents a history of the last two centuries of biology. It covers early evolutionary biology — Lamarck, Cuvier, Darwin, and Wallace through to Mayr and the neodarwinian synthesis — and also discusses social implications, the struggles with our religious understanding, and the interweaving of genetics into evolutionary theory. The book's account is an integration of the cytological tradition and the new understanding of the diversification of life coming from comparative analyses of complete microbial genomes. The book includes the history of research and theories about symbiosis in evolution, research on microbial evolution, bacterial evolution, and symbiosis in evolution.Less
This book presents a history of the last two centuries of biology. It covers early evolutionary biology — Lamarck, Cuvier, Darwin, and Wallace through to Mayr and the neodarwinian synthesis — and also discusses social implications, the struggles with our religious understanding, and the interweaving of genetics into evolutionary theory. The book's account is an integration of the cytological tradition and the new understanding of the diversification of life coming from comparative analyses of complete microbial genomes. The book includes the history of research and theories about symbiosis in evolution, research on microbial evolution, bacterial evolution, and symbiosis in evolution.
Allan Gotthelf
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199287956
- eISBN:
- 9780191738296
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287956.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This book — an interconnected set of sixteen chapters, four previously unpublished, addresses in parallel three main topics and Aristotle's three main biological treatises. Starting with a set of six ...
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This book — an interconnected set of sixteen chapters, four previously unpublished, addresses in parallel three main topics and Aristotle's three main biological treatises. Starting with a set of six studies of central aspects of Aristotle's natural teleology, including its basis in what the book calls ‘irreducible potentials for form’, the book proceeds to the axiomatic (and other explanatory) structure of biological explanation to be found in the Parts of Animals, identifying three sorts of first principles involved in that structure. An exploration, in Part III, of the implications of these two treatises for our understanding of Aristotle's metaphysics (including the teleological basis of his theory of substance and essence), is followed in Part IV by a study of the method by which Aristotle, in the History of Animals, organizes the data that makes possible such systematic, explanatory study of animals; this study offers a new view of the place of classification in that enterprise. The concluding part, on ‘Aristotle as Theoretical Biologist’, first explores the basis of Charles Darwin's great 1882 praise of Aristotle, and then, in the first printing of a general lecture long delivered worldwide, provides an overview of Aristotle's practice as a philosophically oriented biologist, and ‘a proper verdict’ on his greatness as a scientist.Less
This book — an interconnected set of sixteen chapters, four previously unpublished, addresses in parallel three main topics and Aristotle's three main biological treatises. Starting with a set of six studies of central aspects of Aristotle's natural teleology, including its basis in what the book calls ‘irreducible potentials for form’, the book proceeds to the axiomatic (and other explanatory) structure of biological explanation to be found in the Parts of Animals, identifying three sorts of first principles involved in that structure. An exploration, in Part III, of the implications of these two treatises for our understanding of Aristotle's metaphysics (including the teleological basis of his theory of substance and essence), is followed in Part IV by a study of the method by which Aristotle, in the History of Animals, organizes the data that makes possible such systematic, explanatory study of animals; this study offers a new view of the place of classification in that enterprise. The concluding part, on ‘Aristotle as Theoretical Biologist’, first explores the basis of Charles Darwin's great 1882 praise of Aristotle, and then, in the first printing of a general lecture long delivered worldwide, provides an overview of Aristotle's practice as a philosophically oriented biologist, and ‘a proper verdict’ on his greatness as a scientist.
Henry Plotkin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199544950
- eISBN:
- 9780191594366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199544950.003.002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology
Whether everything changes or whether everything stays the same is one of the key issues in the history of philosophy The philosophy of change from Heraclitus to Kant is briefly described. The ...
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Whether everything changes or whether everything stays the same is one of the key issues in the history of philosophy The philosophy of change from Heraclitus to Kant is briefly described. The possibility that species are transformed in time is considered within the writings of those who came before Darwin, notably Buffon and Lamarck. Then Darwin's theory is considered as the first substantive theory of constant change, but also as an example of the first theory of biology that is itself unchanging in form. The beginnings of the application of Darwin's theory to other forms of change, such as human knowledge, is considered.Less
Whether everything changes or whether everything stays the same is one of the key issues in the history of philosophy The philosophy of change from Heraclitus to Kant is briefly described. The possibility that species are transformed in time is considered within the writings of those who came before Darwin, notably Buffon and Lamarck. Then Darwin's theory is considered as the first substantive theory of constant change, but also as an example of the first theory of biology that is itself unchanging in form. The beginnings of the application of Darwin's theory to other forms of change, such as human knowledge, is considered.
Ralph Colp Jr. M.D.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813032313
- eISBN:
- 9780813039237
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813032313.003.0029
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
In the year 2000, Dr. Gordon Sauer, an American dermatologist, published an article, “Charles Darwin Consults a Dermatologist”, in which he diagnosed Darwin's skin disease as being atopic eczema. ...
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In the year 2000, Dr. Gordon Sauer, an American dermatologist, published an article, “Charles Darwin Consults a Dermatologist”, in which he diagnosed Darwin's skin disease as being atopic eczema. This was the first time in nearly 120 years of comments on Darwin's illness that anyone had proposed a diagnosis for his dermatological symptoms. While Dr. Sauer believes that this allergic state is a cause for Darwin's skin symptoms, he does not believe that allergy can account for the other symptoms of Darwin's illness, as has been proposed by Fabienne Smith. The evidence for his dermatological diagnosis is presented. Whether or not Darwin had atopic dermatitis can only be confirmed by allergen tests that have been developed since his death, and he may occasionally have had other kinds of skin disorders. But the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis fits what is known about the nature and history of his dermatitis better than any other diagnosis.Less
In the year 2000, Dr. Gordon Sauer, an American dermatologist, published an article, “Charles Darwin Consults a Dermatologist”, in which he diagnosed Darwin's skin disease as being atopic eczema. This was the first time in nearly 120 years of comments on Darwin's illness that anyone had proposed a diagnosis for his dermatological symptoms. While Dr. Sauer believes that this allergic state is a cause for Darwin's skin symptoms, he does not believe that allergy can account for the other symptoms of Darwin's illness, as has been proposed by Fabienne Smith. The evidence for his dermatological diagnosis is presented. Whether or not Darwin had atopic dermatitis can only be confirmed by allergen tests that have been developed since his death, and he may occasionally have had other kinds of skin disorders. But the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis fits what is known about the nature and history of his dermatitis better than any other diagnosis.
