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4 - The Synthesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2022

Michael Ruse
Affiliation:
University of Guelph, Ontario
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Summary

Now we come to the elephant in the room. Darwin’s theory was incomplete. When the theory was completed, would natural selection prove to be that effective? Although he threw in a lot of assorted, presumed-relevant facts, no one, starting with Darwin, had much idea about the nature of variation – how it comes, what form it takes, how regular it is. And, without this knowledge, given that natural selection supposedly works on this variation, it is hard to make definite judgments about its effectiveness; especially since Darwin stressed that, although variation has causes, it is random in the sense of not appearing according to need. When he was not pushing the Lamarckian alternative, he was adamant that it is selection alone that is responsible for adaptation.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • The Synthesis
  • Michael Ruse, University of Guelph, Ontario
  • Book: Understanding Natural Selection
  • Online publication: 09 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009090865.006
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  • The Synthesis
  • Michael Ruse, University of Guelph, Ontario
  • Book: Understanding Natural Selection
  • Online publication: 09 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009090865.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Synthesis
  • Michael Ruse, University of Guelph, Ontario
  • Book: Understanding Natural Selection
  • Online publication: 09 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009090865.006
Available formats
×