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Neo-Paleyan biology.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Abstract

There is a 'Neo-Paleyan' tradition in British evolutionary theorising, which began with Darwin and continues to the present day. This tradition conceives of adaptation in terms of design, and it often puts natural selection in the role of an ersatz designer. There are significant disanalogies between Paleyan conceptions of design and modern conceptions of adaptation and selection, which help to explain why the neo-Paleyan programme is sometimes treated with hostility. These general disanalogies do not suffice to dismiss the most interesting forms of recent neo-Paleyanism, which draw on theoretical principles such as Fisher's Fundamental Theorem to ground a general approach to what we can call (following Grafen) the 'criterion' of evolutionary design. It is important to distinguish between justifications of this 'criterion' and justifications of approaches to nature which presuppose that natural selection produces good designs.

Description

Keywords

Adaptation, Alan Grafen, Andy Gardner, Design, Fisher's fundamental theorem, William Paley, Adaptation, Biological, Biological Evolution, Biology, Selection, Genetic

Journal Title

Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1369-8486
1879-2499

Volume Title

76

Publisher

Elsevier BV
Sponsorship
John Templeton Foundation (unknown)
John Templeton Foundation (via University of St Andrews) (13337)
John Templeton Foundation