Cambridge University Press eBooks· 2015· Book chapter
Organisms, Agency, and Evolution
- 471citations
- 2015year
Short summary
D. M. Walsh argues for 'situated Darwinism,' an organism-centered view of evolution that prioritizes organisms as adaptive agents, challenging the gene-centric Modern Synthesis.
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Key points
- Darwin's 'Origin of Species' viewed evolution as an ecological phenomenon driven by organismal activities.
- The Modern Synthesis theory shifted focus to evolution as a molecular phenomenon driven by genes.
- Empirical advances in development and inheritance are challenging the Modern Synthesis.
- Walsh proposes 'situated Darwinism,' an organism-centered view prioritizing organisms as adaptive agents.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
The central insight of Darwin's Origin of Species is that evolution is an ecological phenomenon, arising from the activities of organisms in the 'struggle for life'. By contrast, the Modern Synthesis theory of evolution, which rose to prominence in the twentieth century, presents evolution as a fundamentally molecular phenomenon, occurring in populations of sub-organismal entities - genes. After nearly a century of success, the Modern Synthesis theory is now being challenged by empirical advances in the study of organismal development and inheritance. In this important study, D. M. Walsh shows that the principal defect of the Modern Synthesis resides in its rejection of Darwin's organismal perspective, and argues for 'situated Darwinism': an alternative, organism-centred conception of evolution that prioritises organisms as adaptive agents. His book will be of interest to scholars and advanced students of evolutionary biology and the philosophy of biology.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2015 · DOI ↗
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Field: History and Philosophy of Science
History and Philosophy of ScienceArts and Humanities