Transformations of Lamarckism

Transformations of Lamarckism PDF Author: Snait B. Gissis
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262294737
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 474

Get Book

Book Description
A reappraisal of Lamarckism—its historical impact and contemporary significance. In 1809—the year of Charles Darwin's birth—Jean-Baptiste Lamarck published Philosophie zoologique, the first comprehensive and systematic theory of biological evolution. The Lamarckian approach emphasizes the generation of developmental variations; Darwinism stresses selection. Lamarck's ideas were eventually eclipsed by Darwinian concepts, especially after the emergence of the Modern Synthesis in the twentieth century. The different approaches—which can be seen as complementary rather than mutually exclusive—have important implications for the kinds of questions biologists ask and for the type of research they conduct. Lamarckism has been evolving—or, in Lamarckian terminology, transforming—since Philosophie zoologique's description of biological processes mediated by "subtle fluids." Essays in this book focus on new developments in biology that make Lamarck's ideas relevant not only to modern empirical and theoretical research but also to problems in the philosophy of biology. Contributors discuss the historical transformations of Lamarckism from the 1820s to the 1940s, and the different understandings of Lamarck and Lamarckism; the Modern Synthesis and its emphasis on Mendelian genetics; theoretical and experimental research on such "Lamarckian" topics as plasticity, soft (epigenetic) inheritance, and individuality; and the importance of a developmental approach to evolution in the philosophy of biology. The book shows the advantages of a "Lamarckian" perspective on evolution. Indeed, the development-oriented approach it presents is becoming central to current evolutionary studies—as can be seen in the burgeoning field of Evo-Devo. Transformations of Lamarckism makes a unique contribution to this research.

Transformations of Lamarckism

Transformations of Lamarckism PDF Author: Snait B. Gissis
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262294737
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 474

Get Book

Book Description
A reappraisal of Lamarckism—its historical impact and contemporary significance. In 1809—the year of Charles Darwin's birth—Jean-Baptiste Lamarck published Philosophie zoologique, the first comprehensive and systematic theory of biological evolution. The Lamarckian approach emphasizes the generation of developmental variations; Darwinism stresses selection. Lamarck's ideas were eventually eclipsed by Darwinian concepts, especially after the emergence of the Modern Synthesis in the twentieth century. The different approaches—which can be seen as complementary rather than mutually exclusive—have important implications for the kinds of questions biologists ask and for the type of research they conduct. Lamarckism has been evolving—or, in Lamarckian terminology, transforming—since Philosophie zoologique's description of biological processes mediated by "subtle fluids." Essays in this book focus on new developments in biology that make Lamarck's ideas relevant not only to modern empirical and theoretical research but also to problems in the philosophy of biology. Contributors discuss the historical transformations of Lamarckism from the 1820s to the 1940s, and the different understandings of Lamarck and Lamarckism; the Modern Synthesis and its emphasis on Mendelian genetics; theoretical and experimental research on such "Lamarckian" topics as plasticity, soft (epigenetic) inheritance, and individuality; and the importance of a developmental approach to evolution in the philosophy of biology. The book shows the advantages of a "Lamarckian" perspective on evolution. Indeed, the development-oriented approach it presents is becoming central to current evolutionary studies—as can be seen in the burgeoning field of Evo-Devo. Transformations of Lamarckism makes a unique contribution to this research.

Transformations of Lamarckism

Transformations of Lamarckism PDF Author: Snait Gissis
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262015145
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 474

Get Book

Book Description
A reappraisal of Lamarckism--its historical impact and contemporary significance.

Lamarck's Evolution

Lamarck's Evolution PDF Author: Ross Honeywill
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1742660770
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Get Book

Book Description
The fascinating story of two men, 200 years apart, who risked ridicule and ruin for the ideas they believed in. In 18th-century France Jean Baptiste de Lamarck ignored scientific tradition and developed the first theory of evolution. But 50 years later Charles Darwin published his own work and Lamarck became a laughing stock. Contemporary academic Ted Steele was similarly mocked and nearly ruined for supporting Lamarck's idea that inherited characteristics could be passed on. Now cutting edge discoveries have vindicated him at last. Their story is a rollercoaster ride of intelligence, stubborn vision, despair and vindication.

Zoological Philosophy

Zoological Philosophy PDF Author: Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de Lamarck
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Physiology, Comparative
Languages : en
Pages : 512

Get Book

Book Description


Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior

Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior PDF Author: Robert J. Richards
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226712001
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 719

Get Book

Book Description
With insight and wit, Robert J. Richards focuses on the development of evolutionary theories of mind and behavior from their first distinct appearance in the eighteenth century to their controversial state today. Particularly important in the nineteenth century were Charles Darwin's ideas about instinct, reason, and morality, which Richards considers against the background of Darwin's personality, training, scientific and cultural concerns, and intellectual community. Many critics have argued that the Darwinian revolution stripped nature of moral purpose and ethically neutered the human animal. Richards contends, however, that Darwin, Herbert Spencer, and their disciples attempted to reanimate moral life, believing that the evolutionary process gave heart to unselfish, altruistic behavior. "Richards's book is now the obvious introduction to the history of ideas about mind and behavior in the nineteenth century."—Mark Ridley, Times Literary Supplement "Not since the publication of Michael Ghiselin's The Triumph of the Darwinian Method has there been such an ambitious, challenging, and methodologically self-conscious interpretation of the rise and development and evolutionary theories and Darwin's role therein."—John C. Greene, Science "His book . . . triumphantly achieves the goal of all great scholarship: it not only informs us, but shows us why becoming thus informed is essential to understanding our own issues and projects."—Daniel C. Dennett, Philosophy of Science

Neo-Lamarckism and the Evolution Controversy in France, 1870-1920

Neo-Lamarckism and the Evolution Controversy in France, 1870-1920 PDF Author: Stuart Michael Persell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 316

Get Book

Book Description
What CHOICE says: Persell focuses on the development of neo-Lamarckism in France after 1870, and why France--deeply wounded by its resounding defeat in the Franco-Prussian war--welcomed the move away from Darwinian evolution. The author separates the ideas of French neo-Lamarckians from the theories of Jean Baptiste Lamarck and American neo-Lamarckians, who accepted divine purpose as a part of their evolutionary scheme. The French school regarded Lamarck as the founder of evolution, retaining belief in the inheritance of acquired characteristics; however, they incorporated natural selection into their materialist and progressivist scheme, encouraged by Darwin's gradual acceptance of some environmentalist ideas in successive editions of the Origin. Persell strikes a balance between those modern biologists whose interpretation of post-Darwinian evolution has been called "whiggish" and those who claim the popularity of Darwinian evolution declined precipitously after Darwin's death and had little influence for the rest of the 19th century; e.g., he maintains that August Weismann's work played a critical role in shaping biology. The book promises to be useful for upper-division undergraduate and graduate students through research scholars in the biological sciences as well as those investigating the development of scientific ideas.

Challenging the Modern Synthesis

Challenging the Modern Synthesis PDF Author: Philippe Huneman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199377170
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book

Book Description
"This volume of original essays surveys recent challenges to the Modern Synthesis theory of evolution that arise from empirical advances in the understanding of evolution since the advent of the 21st century. It presents a spectrum of views by philosophers and biologists on the status and prospects of the Modern Synthesis"--Page 4 of cover.

The Spirit of System

The Spirit of System PDF Author: Richard Wellington Burkhardt
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674833180
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 342

Get Book

Book Description
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was a biological Janus, at once a highly competent taxonomist in a traditional mold and a bold, almost visionary, philosopher of nature who aspired to contrive an all-embracing "physics of the earth" by sheer force of intellect. Lamarck is generally remembered only for his ideas about the inheritance of acquired characters, ideas he did not originate or take special credit for, ideas that were only one part of his broad theory of evolution. In this, the first modern book-length study of Lamarck, Richard Burkhardt examines the origin and development of Lamarck's theory of organic evolution, the major theory prior to Darwin.

Lamarck's Open Mind

Lamarck's Open Mind PDF Author: Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de Lamarck
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Get Book

Book Description
This collection of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's lectures provides a wealth of information about the man and his theories. Arguing that Lamarck's ideas about evolution, initially discredited, are increasingly shown to have been prescient and important, this study contends that though many of Lamarck's insights may have been flawed, his basic contention that environment and evolution are inexorably linked is invaluable, particularly in the era of the genome project. At a time when Lamarckian notions of a vital universe are replacing mechanistic views, this work provides an excellent summation of his ideas and of their increased importance.

Alexander Bogdanov and the Politics of Knowledge after the October Revolution

Alexander Bogdanov and the Politics of Knowledge after the October Revolution PDF Author: Maria Chehonadskih
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031402391
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book

Book Description
In this book, Maria Chehonadskih unsettles established narratives about the formation of a revolutionary canon after the October Revolution. Displacing the centre of gravity from dialectical materialism to the rapid dissemination, canonisation and decline of a striking convergence of empiricism and Marxism, she explores how this tendency, overshadowed by official historiography, establishes a new attitude to modernity and progress, nature and environment, agency and subjectivity, party and class, knowledge and power. The book traces the adventure of the synthesis of empiricism and Marxism across philosophy, science, politics, art and literature from the 1890s to the 1930s, offering a radical rethinking of the true scope and scale that the main proponent of Empirio-Marxism, Alexander Bogdanov, had on the post-revolutionary socialist legacies. Chehonadskih draws on both key and forgotten figures and movements, such as Proletkult, Productivism and Constructivism, filling a gap in the literature that will be particularly significant for Marxism, continental philosophy, art theory and Slavic studies specialists.