The meaning of evolution the morphological construction and ideological reconstruction of Darwin's theory / [electronic resource] :
Robert J. Richards.
- University of Chicago Press, c1992.
- 1 online resource (xv, 205 p.) : ill.
- Science and its conceptual foundations .
- Science and its conceptual foundations. .
Includes bibliographical references (p. [181]-190) and index.
The Meaning of Evolution: The Morphological Construction and Ideological Reconstruction of Darwin's Theory; CONTENTS; List of Illustrations; Preface; 1 The Natural History of Ideas; 2 Evolution vs. Epigenesis in Embyogenesis; 3 The Theory of Evolutionary Recapitulation in the Context of Transcendental Morphology; 4 Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Species Change; 5 Darwin's Embryological Theory of Progressive Evolution; 6 The Meaning of Evolution and the Ideological Uses of History; Bibliography; Index.
Did Darwin see evolution as progressive, directed toward producing ever more advanced forms of life? Most contemporary scholars say no. In this challenge to prevailing views, Robert J. Richards says yes--and argues that current perspectives on Darwin and his theory are both ideologically motivated and scientifically unsound. This provocative new reading of Darwin goes directly to the origins of evolutionary theory. Unlike most contemporary biologists or historians and philosophers of science, Richards holds that Darwin did concern himself with the idea of progress, or telos, as he constructed hi.