The Changing Meaning of "Evolution"

Bowler, Peter J.

doi:10.2307/2709013

Cited by 108 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…Indeed, Darwin's theory is not a single idea but a suite of interconnected explanatory principles (hence Darwin's ‗theories' would be a more appropriate name), including common ancestry, gradualness of change, adaptation (link between organism and environment), macroevolution (extension of adaptation to speciation and higher-level evolution), extinction, and convergent (analogous) evolution. Note that Darwin did not initially like the term ‗evolution,' partly because previous theorists, who described a progressive unfolding, offered no causal explanation for how it might occur (Bowler 1975;Desmond and Moore 1992, 293). Instead Darwin described this process as ‗descent with modification.'…”

Section: Defining Terms Past and Presentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are there Limits to Evolutionary Explanations?

Werth¹

2018

JNS

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In the 150+ years since Darwin published On the Origin of Species, evolution by natural selection has gained such traction that it is now used to explain, in theory, all aspects of living organisms, including physical, biochemical, and behavioral traits. Some scholars renounce the purported ability of this causal, mechanistic framework to explain everything, positing that its explanatory power is limited. This paper considers potential scientific and philosophical limits to the epistemic utility of evolutionary explanations, including historical and contemporary criticisms. Lack of sufficient information appears to provide the most common constraint; the problem lies with limited data, not underlying theory. To the extent that evolutionary explanations follow scientific guidelines, there may be no inherent limits beyond those imposed by the observer's worldview (specifically, acceptance or rejection of ontological materialism). Adoption of a teleological stance produces the greatest objection to evolutionary explanations; posited curbs stem from resulting moral or religious objections and inevitably involve one species: our own.

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Section: Defining Terms Past and Presentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are there Limits to Evolutionary Explanations?

Werth¹

2018

JNS

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“…Indeed, the term evolution itself first appeared in embryological discourse (Bowler, 1975). According to one estimate, over 70 different authors arrived at something resembling the biogenetic law between 1797 and 1866, when Haeckel's General Morphology was first published (Oppenheimer, 1967, p. 222).…”

Section: Recapitulation Theory: the Embryo As Historianmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of beasts and babies: Recapitulation, instinct, and the early discourse on child development

Noon

2005

J. Hist. Behav. Sci.

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The field of "child study" emerged at the end of the nineteenth century with the purpose of disclosing children's "nature" for the benefit of parents, educators, psychologists, and other interested groups. Borrowed from the biological sciences, narratives of biological recapitulation were common in the discourses about child development during this period. Such theories often measured children against "savages," but they also suggested that the study of childhood offered clues into the evolutionary relationships between humans and animals. By emphasizing the relevance of children's "instincts," observers of child development explained child behavior as the tissue that linked humans and animals.

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“…(Baer 1876: 463, 473). 3 The notion that evolution occurs through changes in development was a view of evolution that preceded Darwin (Bowler 1975, Ragan 2009) and has been reinvigorated (with genetic mechanisms) by Hagen-Schwartz (1824-1902. Until 1899 the original drawing belonged to the Albertus University of Tartu University Library. evolutionary developmental biology (Gilbert et al, 1996;Müller, 2001;Wagner, 2001).…”

Section: The Complete Extinction Of Very Many Types Is Certain and Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876) and Evolution

Brauckmann¹

2012

Int. J. Dev. Biol.

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The research program of Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876) intended to enhance the comparative approach of animal classification by demonstrating vertebrate affinities (homology). Baer visualized his ideas on development and evolution with an unpublished figure of a branching tree. To buttress his reflections on how species-specific embryogenesis produces a branching tree, he worked out a cladogram-like chart, depicting the ontogeny and phylogeny of vertebrate embryos. For Baer, changes in development were responsible for changes in phenotype. I will offer a new interpretation of Baer's ideas about evolution showing that he believed in the transformation of species and announced such views publicly. KEY WORDS: von Baer, history of developmental biology, evo-devo, hourglass model

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The Changing Meaning of "Evolution"

Cited by 108 publications

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Are there Limits to Evolutionary Explanations?

Are there Limits to Evolutionary Explanations?

The evolution of beasts and babies: Recapitulation, instinct, and the early discourse on child development

Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876) and Evolution

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