Evolutionary synthesis: A search for the strategy

Philosophy of Science 59 (3):429-438 (1992)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The goal of evolutionary theory is to (a) specify the general causal structure of evolving systems and (b) analyze evolutionary consequences that are expected to result from the proposed structure of the model systems. Biologists frequently emphasize the hypothetico-deductive method in evolutionary theory. I will show that this method primarily provides a tactical device for (b), while evolutionary synthesis requires a foundation of a unifying conceptual model for (a). Therefore, any successful strategy for a new synthesis requires both a new conceptual insight of evolving systems, and tactical devices for analyzing new specific aspects of the evolutionary process

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive

    This entry is not archived by us. If you are the author and have permission from the publisher, we recommend that you archive it. Many publishers automatically grant permission to authors to archive pre-prints. By uploading a copy of your work, you will enable us to better index it, making it easier to find.

    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 104,856

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
93 (#240,761)

6 months
11 (#337,008)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

The Structure of Scientific Theories.Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther - 2015 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Add more citations

References found in this work

The Triumph of the Darwinian Method.Michael T. Ghiselin - 1973 - Philosophy of Science 40 (3):466-467.
The Structure and Strategy of Darwin's ‘Long Argument’.M. J. S. Hodge - 1977 - British Journal for the History of Science 10 (3):237-246.
On the nature of the theory of evolution.Gerhard D. Wassermann - 1981 - Philosophy of Science 48 (3):416-437.
Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution: An Analysis.Michael Ruse - 1975 - Journal of the History of Biology 8 (2):219 - 241.

View all 7 references / Add more references