John O. Reiss
Not by Design
Retiring Darwin's Watchmaker
$49.95, £34.95 hardcover
9780520258938
Available Now
440 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 16 line illustrations, 10 tables
August 2009, Available worldwide
Also in: History & Philosophy of Science
August 2009, Available worldwide
Also in: History & Philosophy of Science
More than two centuries ago, William Paley introduced his famous metaphor of the universe as a watch made by the Creator. For Paley, the exquisite structure of the universe necessitated a designer. Today, some 150 years since Darwin's On the Origin of Species was published, the argument of design is seeing a revival. This provocative work tells how Darwin left the door open for this revival--and at the same time argues for a new conceptual framework that avoids the problematic teleology inherent in Darwin's formulation of natural selection. In a wide-ranging discussion of the historical and philosophical dimensions of evolutionary theory from the ancient Greeks to today, John Reiss argues that we should look to the principle of the conditions for existence, first formulated before On the Origin of Species by the French paleontologist Georges Cuvier, to clarify the relation of adaptation to evolution. Reiss suggests that Cuvier's principle can help resolve persistent issues in evolutionary biology, including the proper definition of natural selection, the distinction between natural selection and genetic drift, and the meaning of genetic load. Moreover, he shows how this principle can help unite diverse areas of biology, ranging from quantitative genetics and the theory of the levels of selection to evo-devo, ecology, physiology, and conservation biology.
"Charles Darwin described natural selection in two ways: devoid of purpose or direction and as a teleological agent sorting through heritable variation. Evolutionary biologists today repeat Darwin's divergent rhetoric. In this fine book, John Reiss helps us to rid all teleology from evolutionary biology."—William Provine, Cornell University
"Anyone who thinks they understand how natural selection works as an evolutionary process ought to read this book. You do not need to agree with Reiss to benefit from his ideas."—Günter Wagner, Yale University
"Anyone who thinks they understand how natural selection works as an evolutionary process ought to read this book. You do not need to agree with Reiss to benefit from his ideas."—Günter Wagner, Yale University
Preface: Beyond the Design Metaphor xiii
PART ONE. PROLEGOMENA 1
1. The Problem 3
Teleology and Natural Selection 4
A Role for History 5
Overview of the Book (and How to Read It) 6
2. Philosophical Background 9
Teleological Explanation: Intentional, Representational, and Conditional 9
Teleology and Necessity 12
A Taxonomy of Teleology 13
The Principle of the Conditions for Existence 17
The Conditions for Existence and the Weak Anthropic Principle 19
Natural Selection and the Argument from Design 20
The Conditions for Existence and Evolutionary Explanation 22
The Function Debate 24
PART TWO. HOW DID WE GET INTO THIS MESS? FROM SOCRATES AND LUCRETIUS TO CUVIER AND DARWIN 29
3. Design versus the Epicurean Hypothesis: Two Thousand Years of Debate 31
The Teleologists: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle 32
Empedocles and the Atomists 38
The End of the Classical Era and the Rise of Christianity 41
The Scientific Revolution and the Revolt against Teleology 43
Rational Theology and the Argument of Design: The Later Seventeenth Century 45
The Deists, the Platonists, and the Rebirth of Natural Theology 48
The Mechanical Philosophy and the Argument of Design: Boyle, Ray, and Newton 51
4. Materialism, Teleology, and Evolution in the Enlightenment 57
The Origins of the Enlightenment: Bayle 57
The Philosophes, Materialism, and Lucretius (1744–1750) 59
Buffon, Maupertuis, and the Birth of Evolutionary Theory (1749–1755) 64
The Later Enlightenment: d'Holbach and Hume 71
Kant and the German Enlightenment 74
The Critical Philosophy 78
5. Cuvier and the Principle of the Conditions for Existence 85
Biographical Background 86
Cuvier's Project in the Context of Enlightenment Science 95
The Enunciation of the Principle and Its Place in Cuvier's System 98
The Philosophical Origins and Significance of the Principle 103
The Influence of the Principle in France and Germany 113
6. Darwin, Natural Theology, and the Principle of Natural Selection 121
Adaptedness and Existence in British Natural Theology 122
The Conditions for Existence Meet Natural Theology 124
Geology and the Explanation of Life's History 126
Darwin, Extinction, and Evolution 128
Darwin and the Conditions for Existence 136
Wallace and the Conditions for Existence 141
Darwin, Wallace, and Inheritance 145
Evolutionary Controversies before the Synthesis 146
PART THREE. EVOLUTION IN MENDELIAN POPULATIONS: TELEOLOGY GETS MATHEMATICAL 151
7. Existence and the Mathematics of Selection:
The Adaptive Landscape versus the Fundamental Theorem 153
Mendelism, Selection, and the Modern Synthesis 154
Rates of Increase in Mendelian Populations 155
Fitness in Population Genetics 164
Ironing Out Wright's "Surface of Selective Value" 166
The Genesis of Wright's Surface 171
Fisher and the Fundamental Theorem 177
What Is Selected? 182
Fisher's Geometrical Model of Adaptedness 184
The Reemergence of the Adaptive Landscape 186
8. Population Growth, Genetic Load, and the Limits of Selection 191
Variance in Rate of Increase: The Opportunity for Selection (and Drift) in Natural Populations 192
Standardized Variance versus Population Growth: Data 195
Standardized Variance versus Population Growth:
Mathematical Considerations 201
Genetic Load: The Dark Side of Natural Selection 205
Limits to Selection and the Standardized Variance in Rate of Increase 213
Genetic Load and Genetic Deaths 215
The Measurement of Total Selection in Existing Populations 216
Population Growth, Selection, and Standardized Variance 218
Partitioning the Variance in Rate of Increase across the Life Cycle 220
9. Natural Selection and Genetic Drift:
Their Role in Evolutionary Change 225
What's Really Going On? 227
Model Populations 230
The Hagedoorns, Fisher, and the Origins of Genetic Drift 234
The "Sewall Wright Effect" 236
Drift and the Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution 238
Molecular Tests of Drift and Selection 239
Problems in Paradise 242
Drift and Mutation Pressure in Phenotypic Evolution 250
PART FOUR. THE CONDITIONS FOR EXISTENCE AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY 255
10. Adaptedness, Natural Selection, and the Conditions for Existence 257
Adaptation versus Adaptedness 258
Adaptedness of What? 259
Adaptedness, Adaptation, Function and Natural Selection: How Are They Related? 262
Empirical Studies of Evolution: Bacteria, Peppered Moths, and Darwin's Finches 267
11. How to Talk about Macroevolution 279
The Explanatory Role of Natural Selection: The Mechanism and the Principle 280
Teleology and the Terminology of Selection 285
Constraints: By What and on What? 292
The Conditions for Existence in Macroevolutionary Explanation:
The Origin of Bird Flight 297
12. The Conditions for Existence as a Unifying Concept in Evolutionary Biology 313
Quantitative Genetics and the Conditions for Existence 313
Levels of Selection and the Conditions for Existence 319
Evo-Devo and the Conditions for Existence 326
The Ecological Niche and the Conditions for Existence 330
Physiology and the Conditions for Existence 339
Conservation Biology, Genetic Load, and the Conditions for Existence 346
CONCLUSION 353
Epilogue: Evolutionary Biology and Intelligent Design 355
Glossary 357
References 361
Index 401
About the Author
PART ONE. PROLEGOMENA 1
1. The Problem 3
Teleology and Natural Selection 4
A Role for History 5
Overview of the Book (and How to Read It) 6
2. Philosophical Background 9
Teleological Explanation: Intentional, Representational, and Conditional 9
Teleology and Necessity 12
A Taxonomy of Teleology 13
The Principle of the Conditions for Existence 17
The Conditions for Existence and the Weak Anthropic Principle 19
Natural Selection and the Argument from Design 20
The Conditions for Existence and Evolutionary Explanation 22
The Function Debate 24
PART TWO. HOW DID WE GET INTO THIS MESS? FROM SOCRATES AND LUCRETIUS TO CUVIER AND DARWIN 29
3. Design versus the Epicurean Hypothesis: Two Thousand Years of Debate 31
The Teleologists: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle 32
Empedocles and the Atomists 38
The End of the Classical Era and the Rise of Christianity 41
The Scientific Revolution and the Revolt against Teleology 43
Rational Theology and the Argument of Design: The Later Seventeenth Century 45
The Deists, the Platonists, and the Rebirth of Natural Theology 48
The Mechanical Philosophy and the Argument of Design: Boyle, Ray, and Newton 51
4. Materialism, Teleology, and Evolution in the Enlightenment 57
The Origins of the Enlightenment: Bayle 57
The Philosophes, Materialism, and Lucretius (1744–1750) 59
Buffon, Maupertuis, and the Birth of Evolutionary Theory (1749–1755) 64
The Later Enlightenment: d'Holbach and Hume 71
Kant and the German Enlightenment 74
The Critical Philosophy 78
5. Cuvier and the Principle of the Conditions for Existence 85
Biographical Background 86
Cuvier's Project in the Context of Enlightenment Science 95
The Enunciation of the Principle and Its Place in Cuvier's System 98
The Philosophical Origins and Significance of the Principle 103
The Influence of the Principle in France and Germany 113
6. Darwin, Natural Theology, and the Principle of Natural Selection 121
Adaptedness and Existence in British Natural Theology 122
The Conditions for Existence Meet Natural Theology 124
Geology and the Explanation of Life's History 126
Darwin, Extinction, and Evolution 128
Darwin and the Conditions for Existence 136
Wallace and the Conditions for Existence 141
Darwin, Wallace, and Inheritance 145
Evolutionary Controversies before the Synthesis 146
PART THREE. EVOLUTION IN MENDELIAN POPULATIONS: TELEOLOGY GETS MATHEMATICAL 151
7. Existence and the Mathematics of Selection:
The Adaptive Landscape versus the Fundamental Theorem 153
Mendelism, Selection, and the Modern Synthesis 154
Rates of Increase in Mendelian Populations 155
Fitness in Population Genetics 164
Ironing Out Wright's "Surface of Selective Value" 166
The Genesis of Wright's Surface 171
Fisher and the Fundamental Theorem 177
What Is Selected? 182
Fisher's Geometrical Model of Adaptedness 184
The Reemergence of the Adaptive Landscape 186
8. Population Growth, Genetic Load, and the Limits of Selection 191
Variance in Rate of Increase: The Opportunity for Selection (and Drift) in Natural Populations 192
Standardized Variance versus Population Growth: Data 195
Standardized Variance versus Population Growth:
Mathematical Considerations 201
Genetic Load: The Dark Side of Natural Selection 205
Limits to Selection and the Standardized Variance in Rate of Increase 213
Genetic Load and Genetic Deaths 215
The Measurement of Total Selection in Existing Populations 216
Population Growth, Selection, and Standardized Variance 218
Partitioning the Variance in Rate of Increase across the Life Cycle 220
9. Natural Selection and Genetic Drift:
Their Role in Evolutionary Change 225
What's Really Going On? 227
Model Populations 230
The Hagedoorns, Fisher, and the Origins of Genetic Drift 234
The "Sewall Wright Effect" 236
Drift and the Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution 238
Molecular Tests of Drift and Selection 239
Problems in Paradise 242
Drift and Mutation Pressure in Phenotypic Evolution 250
PART FOUR. THE CONDITIONS FOR EXISTENCE AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY 255
10. Adaptedness, Natural Selection, and the Conditions for Existence 257
Adaptation versus Adaptedness 258
Adaptedness of What? 259
Adaptedness, Adaptation, Function and Natural Selection: How Are They Related? 262
Empirical Studies of Evolution: Bacteria, Peppered Moths, and Darwin's Finches 267
11. How to Talk about Macroevolution 279
The Explanatory Role of Natural Selection: The Mechanism and the Principle 280
Teleology and the Terminology of Selection 285
Constraints: By What and on What? 292
The Conditions for Existence in Macroevolutionary Explanation:
The Origin of Bird Flight 297
12. The Conditions for Existence as a Unifying Concept in Evolutionary Biology 313
Quantitative Genetics and the Conditions for Existence 313
Levels of Selection and the Conditions for Existence 319
Evo-Devo and the Conditions for Existence 326
The Ecological Niche and the Conditions for Existence 330
Physiology and the Conditions for Existence 339
Conservation Biology, Genetic Load, and the Conditions for Existence 346
CONCLUSION 353
Epilogue: Evolutionary Biology and Intelligent Design 355
Glossary 357
References 361
Index 401
About the Author
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