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On the Notion of Evolutionary Progress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Kai Hahlweg
Kai Hahlweg*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy Bond University
*
‡Send reprint requests to the author, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University, Gold Coast, AUSTRALIA.
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Abstract

In this paper, I develop a naturalistic conception of evolutionary progress. I argue that the Waddingtonian notion of adaptability can be embedded meaningfully into a framework which views living things as nonequilibrium structures. This thermodynamic interpretation places great emphasis on the dynamics of environmental change, whereas the classical conceptions are based on equilibrium conceptions of the evolutionary process. What improves in evolution is the ability of living things to stay alive in increasingly heterogeneous environments.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , September 1991 , pp. 436 - 451
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

I learned a great deal from the discussion with many people during a lecture tour in the United States and Canada where I presented an earlier version of this paper. I am also grateful to Ron Amundson, Richard Arthur, Malcolm Forster and Judith Thomas for their helpful comments. This research was supported by ARGS Grant A18416058.

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