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The Creativity of Natural Selection? Part II: The Synthesis and Since.
1Department of Philosophy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada. john.beatty@ubc.ca.
Journal of the History of Biology
|October 2, 2019
Summary
This essay explores the historical debates on the creativity of natural selection, focusing on the evolutionary synthesis and its critics. It argues that natural selection both initiates and directs evolutionary change, a core aspect of Darwinism.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- History of science
Background:
- The concept of natural selection's creativity has been debated since Darwin.
- This essay, the second of a two-part series, examines these debates from the evolutionary synthesis onwards.
Observation:
- Critics like 'neutralists' and 'neo-mutationists' challenged the creative role of natural selection.
- The essay revisits the historical understanding of natural selection's agency in evolution.
Findings:
- Natural selection's creativity is understood as initiating evolutionary change.
- Natural selection also directs evolutionary change, including generating variation.
- These roles are central to Darwinism, despite sometimes appearing non-Darwinian.
Implications:
- Re-evaluating the historical definition of Darwinism.
- Understanding the dynamic interplay between natural selection and evolutionary innovation.
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