Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b6zl4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-27T02:27:44.749Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On the Nature of the Theory of Evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Gerhard D. Wassermann
Gerhard D. Wassermann*
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper supplements an earlier one (Wassermann 1978b). Its views aim to reinforce those of Lewontin and other prominent evolutionists, but differ significantly from the opinions of some philosophers of science, notably Popper (1957) and Olding (1978). A basic distinction is made between ‘laws’ and ‘theories of mechanisms’. The ‘Theory of Evolution’ is not characterized by laws, but is viewed here as a hypertheory which explains classifiable evolutionary phenomena in terms of subordinate classifiable theories of ‘evolution-specific mechanisms’ (ESMs), each of which could apply to a host of species. Adaptations could result from ESMs that are rooted in molecular complementarities. The status of optimization theories that aim to predict best adapted states of organisms or populations is also discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 48 , Issue 3 , September 1981 , pp. 416 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 by the Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Boden, M. (1977), Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man. Brighton: Harvester Press.Google Scholar
Cook, N. D. (1977), “The Case for Reverse Translation”, Journal of Theoretical Biology 64: 113–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dobzhansky, Th. (1970), Genetics of the Evolutionary Process. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Dobzhansky, Th. (1974), “Chance and Creativity in Evolution”, in Studies in the Philosophy of Biology. Edited by Ayala, F.J. and Dobzhansky, Th. London: Macmillan: pp. 307–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eigen, M. (1971), “Selforganization of Matter and the Evolution of Biological Macromolecules”, Die Naturwissenschaften 58: 465–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eigen, M. and Schuster, P. (1977), “The Hypercycle (Part A)”, Die Naturwissenschaften 64: 541–565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eigen, M. and Schuster, P. (1978a), “The Hypercycle (Part B)”, Die Naturwissenschaften 65: 7–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eigen, M. and Schuster, P. (1978b), “The Hypercycle (Part C)”, Die Naturwissenschaften 65: 341–369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giere, R. N. (1979), Understanding Scientific Reasoning. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Green, D. G. and Goldberger, R. G. (1967), Molecular Insights into the Living Processes. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hecht, M. K. (1976), “Phylogenetic Inference and Methodology as Applied to the Vertebrate Record”, in Evolutionary Biology (vol. 9). Edited by Hecht, M. K., Steere, W. C. and Wallace, B. New York: Plenum Press: pp. 335–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, J. S. (1980), “How much Genetic Variation?” Nature 288: 10–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kimura, M. (1979), “Model of Effectively Neutral Mutations in which Selective Constraint is Incorporated”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 76: 3440–3444.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewontin, R. C. (1972), “Testing the Theory of Natural Selection”, Nature 236: 181–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewontin, R. C. (1974), The Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Lewontin, R.C. (1978), “Adaptation”, Scientific American (September): 157–169.Google Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. (1976), “Group Selection”, Quarterly Review of Biology 51: 20–30.Google Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. (1978), “Optimization Theory”, Annual Review of Ecological Systems 9: 31–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. (1979), “Hypercycles and the Origin of Life”, Nature 280: 445–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. and Savage, R. J. G. (1956), “Some Locomotory Adaptations in Mammals”, Zoological Journal Linnean Society 42: 603–622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayr, E. (1963), Animal Species and Evolution. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nei, M. (1975), Molecular Population Genetics. Amsterdam: North Holland.Google ScholarPubMed
Ohta, T. (1976), “Role of very slightly deleterious Mutations in Molecular Evolution and Polymorphism”, Theoretical Population Biology 10: 254–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olding, A. (1978), “A Defence of Evolutionary Laws”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 29: 849–855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orgel, L. E. and Crick, F. H. C. (1980), “Selfish DNA: the ultimate Parasite”, Nature 284: 604–607.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G. A. (1978), “Selfish Genes, Evolutionary Games, and the Adaptiveness of Behaviour”, Nature 274: 849–855.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Popper, K. R. (1957), The Poverty of Historicism. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Popper, K. R. (1974), “Darwinism as a Metaphysical Research Programme”, in The Philosophy of Karl Popper (vol. 1). Edited by Schilpp, P. A. La Salle, Ill.: Open Court: 133–143.Google Scholar
Ruse, M. (1977), “Karl Popper's Philosophy of Biology”, Philosophy of Science 44: 638–661.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wassermann, G. D. (1972), Molecular Control of Cell Differentiation and Morphogenesis. New York: Marcel Dekker.Google Scholar
Wassermann, G. D. (1973), “Molecular Genetics and Developmental Biology”, Nature New Biology 245: 163–165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wassermann, G. D. (1974), Brains and Reasoning. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Wassermann, G. D. (1978a), Neurobiological Theory of Psychological Phenomena. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wassermann, G. D. (1978b), “Testability of the Role of Natural Selection within Theories of Population Genetics and Evolution”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 29: 223–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wdowsky, J. and Wolfendale, A. W. (1977), “Cosmic Rays and ancient Catastrophes”, Nature 268: 510–512.Google Scholar
White, M. J. D. (1978), Modes of Speciation. San Francisco: W. E. Freeman & Co.Google Scholar