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Theory of Knowledge:Darwinism
ISF, January 2011PD Dr. Dirk Solies
"Man is but a worm"
Argumentative reductionism:– "morning star→ evening star → Venus":
– statement of identity
– ampliative (gehaltserweiternd) in a subjective, not in an objective way
Man → worm or man → ape?!
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
The „Tree of Life“
To be discussed:
• Which are the core concepts of Darwinism?
• What is Darwinism?
• Is Darwinism “true”?
• Who doubts Darwinism?
• Is Darwinism relevant for our everyday life?
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
The status of "classical" Darwinism
1. Nomothetic Status of Darwinism:– No law (missing predictablity!) but
– (Well proven) hypothesis:"Nothing makes sense in biology except in the light of evolution." (Dobzhansky)
2. "The" Darwinism and implied principles (Lewontin):
(1) Principle of phenotypic variation
(2) Principle of differential fitness
(3) Heritability of fitnessLewontin, Richard C. (1970), The units of selection. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 1, S. 1-18
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
Darwinist Differentiations
"Evolution as a biological theorem"
"Popular Evolutionism or Developmentalismwhich is certainly a Myth"
C. S. Lewis: The Funeral of a Great Myth
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
Two "darwinian" catch phrasesand their popular adaptation
(1) "Struggle for life" / "for existence“
(1) "struggle", not "fight" / "war“
(2) "strong connotations" (Pörksen)
(2) "Survival of the fittest" (Spencer → Darwin)
(1) fit = strong???
(2) not individuum but population
Socio-morphous concepts in Darwin‘s thought
highly suggestive
leads to misconceptionsPD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
Title of the first German translation:
Entstehung der Artenim Thier- und Pflanzen-Reich durch natürliche Züchtung, Erhaltung der vervollkommnetenRassen im Kampfe um‘sDaseyn
(Bronn, 1860 – Hervorh. hinzugef.)
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
The dark side of Darwinism and the radical break in the 20th century
• "Positive eugenics" / "positive race hygiene": "improvement" of the genetic material through breeding
• "Negative eugenics" / "neg. race hygiene":elimination of "bad" genetic material in favorof future generations → "euthanasia"
• Projectionbiological results → socio-political targets
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
Cultural Darwinism:a small phenomenology
"The selfish gene"Personalized / automatized concept of information
"The God Delusion" / "Breaking the spell"Naturalization of deism
Evolutionary epistemologyincreasing "fitness" (Passung) of knowledge
"Pan-Adaptionism" (Dennett)
Biology of cooperative behaviour"The cooperative gene" (Bauer)
Biology of prosocial behaviour
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
•Variation by chance
•Heredity of theseVariations
•Transformationism
•Selection throughcompetition(Malthus)
•Materialism as an allegation
•"Lamarck instead of Darwin"
•Dissolution of "natural" (godgiven) species boundaries
•Social / Cultural Darwinism
Darwinian
theory elements..
... and their socio-politicalpotential of provocation
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz
Further readings
• Darwin and Nietzsche, in: Encyclopedia of time
• „Anti-Darwin“: Bergsons und Klages‘ Projekt einer Gegen-Evolution
• Darwinismus als bellum omnium contra omnes? Genese und Konsequenzen eines Missverständnisses
PD Dr. Dirk Solies, Prakt. Philos., JGU Mainz