Screen LibraryDebating Darwin /
"Examining key disagreements about Darwin that continue to confound even committed Darwinists, Richards and Ruse offer surprisingly divergent views on the origins and nature of Darwin and his ideas. Ruse argues that Darwin was quintessentially British and that the roots of his thought can be tr...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Group Author: | |
| Published: |
The University of Chicago,
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| Publisher Address: | Chicago : |
| Publication Dates: | 2016. |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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| Summary: |
"Examining key disagreements about Darwin that continue to confound even committed Darwinists, Richards and Ruse offer surprisingly divergent views on the origins and nature of Darwin and his ideas. Ruse argues that Darwin was quintessentially British and that the roots of his thought can be traced back to the eighteenth century, particularly to the Industrial Revolution and thinkers such as Adam Smith and Thomas Robert Malthus. Ruse argues that when these influences are appreciated, we can see how Darwin{u2019}s work in biology is an extension of their theories. In contrast, Richards presents Darwin as a more cosmopolitan, self-educated man, influenced as much by French and particularly German thinkers. Above all, argues Richards, it was Alexander von Humboldt who both inspired Darwin and gave him the conceptual tools that he needed to find and formulate his evolutionary hypotheses. Together, the authors show how the reverberations of the contrasting views on Darwin{u2019}s influences can be felt in theories about the nature of natural selection, the role of metaphor in science, and the place of God in Darwin{u2019}s thought."--Provided by publisher. |
| Carrier Form: | xvi, 299 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [269]-283) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780226384429 (hardback : alkaline paper) : 022638442X (hardback : alkaline paper) 9780226384399 (e-book) 022638439X (e-book) |
| Index Number: | QH366 |
| CLC: | Q111.2 |
| Call Number: | Q111.2/R517 |
| Contents: | Charles Darwin: great Briton / Michael Ruse. Prologue ; Britain before Darwin ; A child of his class ; Evolution and natural selection ; On the origin of species ; Humans ; Envoi -- Charles Darwin: cosmopolitan thinker / Robert J. Richards. Introduction ; Sketch of Darwin's life and works ; Literature of significance for Darwin: romanticism and natural theology ; The romantic foundations of Darwin's theory ; Darwin's scientific theology ; Darwin's construction of his theory ; Man, the moral animal ; Conclusion -- Response to Ruse. The language of metaphor ; Teleology ; Evolutionary development as progressive ; Individual versus group selection ; The evolution of morality ; Conclusion -- Reply to Richards. Levels of selection ; Embryology ; The romantic influence ; Alexander von Humboldt ; Paradise lost -- Epilogue. History of evolutionary biology since the Origin of species ; Human consciousness ; Religion and god. |