Revisiting the Origin of species : the other Darwins
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Revisiting the Origin of species : the other Darwins
（History and philosophy of biology / series editors, Dawn M Digrius, Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther）
Routledge, 2018
- : hbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [220]-236) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Contemporary interest in Darwin rises from a general ideal of what Darwin's books ought to contain: a theory of transformation of species by natural selection. However, a reader opening Darwin's masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, today may be struck by the fact that this "selectionist" view does not deliver the key to many aspects of the book. Without contesting the importance of natural selection to Darwinism, much less supposing that a fully-formed "Darwinism" stepped out of Darwin's head in 1859, this innovative volume aims to return to the text of the Origin itself.
Revisiting the 'Origin of Species' focuses on Darwin as theorising on the origin of variations; showing that Darwin himself was never a pan-selectionist (in contrast to some of his followers) but was concerned with "other means of modification" (which makes him an evolutionary pluralist). Furthermore, in contrast to common textbook presentations of "Darwinism", Hoquet stresses the fact that On the Origin of Species can lend itself to several contradictory interpretations. Thus, this volume identifies where rival interpretations have taken root; to unearth the ambiguities readers of Darwin have latched onto as they have produced a myriad of Darwinian legacies, each more or less faithful enough to the originator's thought.
Emphasising the historical features, complexities and intricacies of Darwin's argument, Revisiting the 'Origin of Species' can be used by any lay readers opening Darwin's On the Origin of Species. This volume will also appeal to students and researchers interested in areas such as Evolution, Natural Selection, Scientific Translations and Origins of Life.
Table of Contents
Introduction. The meanings of "Darwinism"
Part I. Darwin-the-Selectionist and beyond
Chapter 1. A labyrinthine Origin
Chapter 2. Diffracting Darwin's title- The prism of translations
Chapter 3. "One long argument"? Darwin-the-Selectionist
Part II. Darwin-the-Variationist
Chapter 4. Darwin-the-Epicurean. Chance and laws of variation.
Chapter 5. Darwin-the-Teleologist. Are all variations useful?
Chapter 6. Darwin-the-Lamarckian and the Other "Means of Modification"
Part III. Radical origins: Darwin-the-Cosmologist
Chapter 7. "Mystery of mysteries": the temptation of origin
Chapter 8. "Originally Breathed": or, on the Origin of Life
Chapter 9. "Light will be thrown": or, on the Origin of Mankind
Chapter 10. Darwin-the-Darwinist, Or the Quest for Systematic Coherency
Conclusion. Darwinisms, or Darwin Diffracted
by "Nielsen BookData"
