Table Of ContentEvolutionary Biology – New Perspectives on Its Development
Richard G. Delisle
Charles Darwin’s
Incomplete
Revolution
The Origin of Species and the
Static Worldview
–
Evolutionary Biology New Perspectives on Its
Development
SeriesEditor
Richard G. Delisle, Department of Philosophy and School of Liberal Education,
UniversityofLethbridge,Lethbridge,AB,Canada
EditorialBoardMembers
Richard Bellon, Lyman Briggs Coll, Rm E35, Michigan State University, East
Lansing,MI,USA
DanielR.Brooks,DepartmentofEcologyandEvolutionaryBiology,Universityof
Toronto,Toronto,ON,Canada
Joe Cain, Department of Science and Tech Studies, University College London,
London,UK
Maurizio Esposito, Center for Natural and Human Sciences, Federal University of
ABC,SaoPaulo,Brazil
Ulrich Kutschera, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Hessen,
Germany
Georgy S. Levit, Institute of Biology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Hessen,
Germany
LaurentLoison,InstitutefortheHistoryandPhilosophyofScienceandTechnology
(IHPST),Paris,France
Jitse M. van den Meer, Department of Biology, Redeemer University College,
Ancaster,Canada
Jeffrey H. Schwartz, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pitts-
burgh,PA,USA
Ian Tattersall, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History,
NewYork,NY,USA
Derek D. Turner, Department of Philosophy, Connecticut College, New London,
CT,USA
Evolutionary biology has been a remarkably dynamic area since its foundation. Its
truecomplexity,however,hasbeenconcealedinthelast50yearsunderanassumed
opposition between the “Extended Evolutionary Synthesis” and an “Alternative to
the Evolutionary Synthesis”. This multidisciplinary book series aims to move
beyondthenotionthatthedevelopmentofevolutionarybiologyisstructuredaround
alastingtensionbetweenaDarwiniantraditionandanon-Darwiniantradition,once
dominatedbycategorieslikeDarwinianRevolution,EclipseofDarwinism, Evolu-
tionarySynthesis,andPost-SyntheticDevelopments.
The monographs and edited volumes of the series propose an alternative to this
traditional outlook with the explicit aim of fostering new thinking habits about
evolutionary biology, a multifaceted area composed of changing and interacting
researchentitiesandexplanatorylevels.Contributionsbybiologistsandhistorians/
philosophers are welcomed. Topics covered in the series span from (among many
otherpossibilities):
(cid:129) AnOverviewofNeutralistTheoriesinEvolutionaryBiology
(cid:129) DevelopmentalBiology:FromReductionismtoHolismandBack
(cid:129) SelectionTheoriesBeyondHardandSoftInheritance
(cid:129) Divergent, Parallel, and Reticulate Evolution: Competing or Complementary
ResearchPrograms?
(cid:129) TheRiseofMolecularBiology:BetweenDarwinianandNon-Darwinian
(cid:129) BiologizingPaleontology:ATraditionwithDeepHistoricalRoots
(cid:129) TheDarwinianRevolutionandtheEclipseofDarwinism:BlurringtheHistorio-
graphicalLines
(cid:129) Darwinism, Lamarckism, Orthogenesis: Can We Really Define Them by Their
HardExplanatoryCores?
(cid:129) TheEvolutionarySynthesis:AFabricatedConcept?
(cid:129) TheOppositiontotheEvolutionarySynthesis:CriticizingaPhantom?
(cid:129) AReversedPerspective:ApproachingCharlesDarwinfromthePre-1859Period
(cid:129) TheLongDevelopmentoftheMultilevelParadigminEvolutionaryBiology
(cid:129) Self-Organization:AResearchTraditionfromMorphologytoCosmology
(cid:129) HumanEvolution:SociobiologicalorSociocultural?
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/16175
Richard G. Delisle
’
Charles Darwin s Incomplete
Revolution
The Origin of Species and the Static
Worldview
RichardG.Delisle
DepartmentofPhilosophyand
SchoolofLiberalEducation
UniversityofLethbridge
Lethbridge,AB,Canada
ISSN2524-7751 ISSN2524-776X (electronic)
EvolutionaryBiology–NewPerspectivesonItsDevelopment
ISBN978-3-030-17202-2 ISBN978-3-030-17203-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17203-9
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2019
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Acknowledgements
Thismonographhasbeenlonginthemaking.IthasbeendifficulttounlearnwhatI
thoughtIknewabouttheOriginofSpecies,especiallyforsomeoneteachingayearly
course on the topic for over 10 years. During that unlearning process, I read with
greatprofitasignificantpartofthehugecorpusoftheliteratureproducedbywhatis
called the “Darwin industry.” That is why I should like to dedicate this book to
scholars of this industry who have collectively made a remarkable contribution to
intellectual history. I understand the expression “Darwin industry” in its widest
possible sense to comprise Darwin’s contemporaries. Indeed, this monograph is
alsoaninvitationto(re)discoverwhatsomeofthemhadtosaywhentheOriginwas
freshly published. I, for one, have rediscovered them only at the very end of this
project. Only when liberated from the traditional view was I able to grasp the
profound relevance oftheirreflections. Reference to them, therefore, ismore often
than not an afterthought. It is my impression that the authors of the “first Darwin
industry” have much more to offer, a research topic worth revisiting in the near
future.
This monograph also benefited from the expertise of James Tierney, Language
ProgramDirectorintheEnglishLanguageProgramsfromtheCenterforLanguage
Study at Yale University. For more than 10 years, Jim has been my voice to the
English-speaking world by giving myEnglish texts the necessary polish. I wish to
expressmywarmestappreciationforthisfruitfulcollaboration.
Thisbookprojectwaskindlyreviewedbytwoanonymousreferees.Mygratitude
isalsoextendedtothem.
I am glad to acknowledge my debt to Dr. Sabine Schwarz, Executive Editor:
Biomedicine, Genetics & Microbiology, who welcomed this monograph in the
newly created book series “Evolutionary Biology—New Perspectives on its
Development,”
Finally,Ishould like toapologize to mywife, Anik, for having spent toomuch
timewithCharlesDarwin.Weallknowthatthree’sacrowd.
v
Contents
1 Introduction:DarwinintheLargerIntellectualContext. . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 RecalibratingDarwin’sImage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 SketchofanIntellectualGrid. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 5
1.3 TheMultipleFacesofDarwin:JohnC.Greene,MichaelRuse,
andRobertJ.Richards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4 AStaticWorldview:TheMainThesesofThisBook. . . . . . . . . 20
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
PartI HistoricalShallowness
2 EvolutioninaFullyConstitutedWorld. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.1 TheCompletenessoftheWorld. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.2 NeontologyVersusPaleontology:TheDouble
EpistemologicalStandard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.3 HistoricityandtheUnknowablePast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.4 AClosed,Permanent,andSegmentedTreeofLife. . . . . . . . . . 56
2.5 Archetypes,Ancestors,orShadows?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.6 ConclusionofPartI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
PartII ToTravelinGeographicalSpaceIstoTravel
inGeologicalTime
3 ImposingOrderUponComplexity:DivergenceForwardinTime
(Origin,Chaps.1–5,8).. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. 67
3.1 TheOriginofSpecies:TheArgumentativeStructure
oftheBook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.2 TheTraditionofNaturalTheology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.3 FromtheEconomyofNature(Linnaeus)tothePrinciple
ofDivergence(Darwin). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.4 DivergenceForwardinTime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
vii
viii Contents
3.5 HowtoSegregateEntitiesBoundinReproductiveNetworks?. . . 85
3.6 NaturalSelection:AForceBlurringAffiliativeSigns?. . . . . . . . 96
3.7 GraduatedLowerEntitiesorIntertwinedStrains?. . . . . . . . . . . 101
3.8 TheExhaustionoftheEvolutionaryDynamicsoverTime. . . . . 106
3.9 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4 TheWildPowerofNaturalSelection:VerticalEvolution,
Analogies,andImaginaryScenarios(Origin,Chaps.6–7). . . . . . . . 115
4.1 LookingforTransitions:Darwin’sExplicitMethod. . . . . . . . . . 118
4.2 CaseStudies:Squirrels,Ants,andFlyingCreatures. . . . . . . . . . 119
4.3 CaseStudy:TheRiseofComplexEyes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4.4 TheHomology-AnalogySpectrum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.5 TheUnityofType(Descent)VersustheConditions
ofExistence(NaturalSelection). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
4.6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5 AnAttemptatTamingNaturalSelectionwithConvergence
BackwardinTime,PartI(Origin,Chaps.11and12). . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.1 TheStructureofDarwin’sPan-DivergentTheory:Levels
ofExplanation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.2 AResearchProgramonBiogeography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5.3 CaseStudy:AlpinePlantsintheNorthernHemisphere. . . . . . . 141
5.4 CaseStudy:TheGalapagosIslands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
5.5 CaseStudy:AWorldwideDispersalfromAround
theNorthPole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.6 TheWeakContingencyThesisVersustheStrong
ContingencyThesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.7 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
6 AnAttemptatTamingNaturalSelectionwithConvergence
BackwardinTime,PartII(Origin,Chap.13). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
6.1 BlurredPhylogeneticConnections:FacingAnalogies
andDeletedAffiliation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
6.2 TheLimitationsofSystematics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.3 TheLimitationsofMorphology,Embryology,
andComparativeAnatomy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.4 ConclusionofPartII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Contents ix
PartIII EvolutionaryDynamics
7 Cyclicity,EvolutionaryEquilibrium,andBiologicalProgress. . . . . 197
7.1 DarwinandBiologicalProgress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
7.2 ThwartingBiologicalProgress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
7.3 MotioninaClosedSystem:RecyclingMechanicalDevices. . . . 205
7.4 RotatingShafts:FixedTaxonomicCategoriesandCycling
TaxonomicCategories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
7.5 OpeningandClosingDevices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
7.6 ConclusionofPartIII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
PartIV AQuestionofMethods
8 MethodologiesforaWorldFullyRevealed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
8.1 BehindaScienceofRealCause(VeraCausa). . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
8.2 FromOntologytoMethodologyandBack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
8.3 TheTouchstoneofDarwin’sMethodology:Integral
Uniformitarianism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
8.4 ConclusionofPartIV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
9 Conclusion:ARestoredUnityintheOriginofSpecies?. . . . . . . . . . 261
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Chapter 1
Introduction: Darwin in the Larger
Intellectual Context
Abstract OurimageofCharlesDarwin’sworkhasbeenmodernizedtoexcessby
often presenting it as a contribution to modern evolutionism. Uncovering the real
Darwin requires a recalibration of his image: seeing him afresh as a scholar in
transition between two revolutions (the Scientific Revolution and the Transformist
Revolution), two worldviews (the static and the evolutionary), and two epistemol-
ogies. In order to recast the Origin of Species against this complex canvas, an
“intellectual grid” presenting fundamental ideas and dominant systems of thought
issketched.OurviewofDarwinissituatedinreferencetotheviewsofmajorDarwin
scholarslikeJohnC.Greene,MichaelRuse,andRobertJ.Richards.Itisarguedthat
the historiography needs to be completed by paying closer attention to Darwin’s
profounddebtstothestaticworldviewdevelopedintheseventeenthandeighteenth
centuries.
Keywords Traditionalhistoriography·Staticworldview·Evolutionary
worldview·ScientificRevolution·Transformistrevolution·Atomism·Monism·
Teleology·Chainofbeing·Organicism·Mechanism·Naturaltheology·Romantic
biology·JohnC.Greene·MichaelRuse·RobertJ.Richards
1.1 Recalibrating Darwin’s Image
ThenameofCharlesDarwin(1809–1882)isfamiliartomanypeopletoday.Leaving
aside the deforming lens of a picture of a Darwin constructed by pop culture that
depictshimasthemythicalfounderoftheideaofevolutionitself,thefamiliarityof
his name among scholars is largely related to the fate of his ideas in twentieth-
century science. While Darwin’s books of the 1860s and 1870s became widely
known, especially following the initial publication and reception of the Origin of
Speciesin1859(DesmondandMoore1991:477–481),hisideaswereoftenjudged
insufficient to explain biological evolution, hence an assumed “eclipse” of
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2019 1
R.G.Delisle,CharlesDarwin’sIncompleteRevolution,EvolutionaryBiology–New
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