Evolutionary Theory and the Problem of Change:A Historical Perspective

摘要：

　　Isaac Newton is famously quoted as having said:If I have seen farther than certain other men it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.This chapter will introduce the giants on whose shoulders Darwin stood as he developed his theory of evolution.Ancient Greek philosophers introduced the ‘Problem of Change as one that results in a logical paradox:how can something change and yet remain essentially the same? This problem dominated and constrained the discussions of developmental change in animals and the possibility of species transformation throughout the Age of Enlightenment.It was left to Darwin to resolve the issue with his theories of ‘variation and ‘natural selection,but at the cost of losing the very category about which he was writing:the species.

关键词： Darwin history evolutionary theory species problem

作者: Olivier Rieppel

作者单位: Rowe Family Curator of Evolutionary Biology,Department of Geology,The Field Mtuseum,1400 S.Lake Shore Drive,Chicago,IL 60605-2496,USA

会议类型: 国际会议

会议名称: The Darwin 200 Beijing International Conference (纪念达尔文诞辰200周年国际学术会议)

会议地点: 北京

会议语种:英文

页码: 228-239

在线出版日期: 2009-10-24（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）