Darwin and the argument by analogy: from artificial to natural selection

In On the Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin put forward his theory of natural selection. Conventionally, Darwin's argument for this theory has been understood as based on an analogy with artificial selection. But there has been no consensus on how, exactly, this analogical argument is su...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: White, Roger M. (Author), Hodge, Michael J. S. 1940- (Author), Radick, Gregory 1970- (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2021
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Online Access:BSB01
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Summary:In On the Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin put forward his theory of natural selection. Conventionally, Darwin's argument for this theory has been understood as based on an analogy with artificial selection. But there has been no consensus on how, exactly, this analogical argument is supposed to work - and some suspicion too that analogical arguments on the whole are embarrassingly weak. Drawing on new insights into the history of analogical argumentation from the ancient Greeks onward, as well as on in-depth studies of Darwin's public and private writings, this book offers an original perspective on Darwin's argument, restoring to view the intellectual traditions which Darwin took for granted in arguing as he did. From this perspective come new appreciations not only of Darwin's argument but of the metaphors based on it, the range of wider traditions the argument touched upon, and its legacies for science after the Origin
Item Description:Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 26 Oct 2021)
Physical Description:1 Online-Ressource (viii, 251 Seiten)
ISBN:9781108769518
DOI:10.1017/9781108769518

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