Considerations on the evolutionary theory

Abstract

It is not my intention to present a detailed history of the development of the theory of Evolution as generally formulated today, but only to present some steps which have had special importance in the past or which require now reconsideration. Some points of view accepted as essential in the past, owing to facts then considered evident, were not rarely included in the general theory though sometimes having resulted from bias, exagerating their importance while having actually become without much importance, thus representing a necessary ballast or dead weight. Some mythological concepts about origin of life or more specifically of mankind, existed probably in many parts of the world and have been accepted by still rather primitive indigenous people. During the middle ages, ideas of Aristotelean philosophy or the biblical concepts were accepted as representing the "truth". In the middle of the 18 th century modern or scientific reasoning started in the biological sciences, and one can, from then on, distinguish two phases of development of scientific study of evolution. In the first phase the questions of evolution as a process predominated, while after its acceptance had spread more or less widely, the discussion passed to a second phase, the study of the evolutionary mechanism. Not infrequently both phases are called summarily "darwinism". Actually,