Darwin's Argument by Analogy

From Artificial to Natural Selection

Roger M. White , M. J. S. Hodge , Gregory Radick

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English

Cambridge University Press
19 October 2023

Western philosophy, from c 1900 -; Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge; Philosophy of science; History of science; Evolution

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.

By: Roger M. White , M. J. S. Hodge , Gregory Radick
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Weight: 381g
ISBN: 9781108708524
ISBN 10: 1108708528
Pages: 259
Publication Date: 19 October 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction; 1. Analogy in classical Greece; 2. Analogy in the background to the Origin; 3. Darwin's analogical theorising before the Origin; 4. The 'one long argument' of the Origin; 5. An analysis of Darwin's argument by analogy; 6. Darwin's use of metaphor in the Origin; 7. Rebuttals of the revisionists; 8. Wider issues concerning Darwinian science.

Roger M. White is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. He is an analytic philosopher whose books include The Structure of Metaphor (1996) and Talking About God: The Concept of Analogy and the Problem of Religious Language (2010). M. J. S. Hodge is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. He is the author of Origins and Species (1991), Before and After Darwin (2008) and Darwin Studies (2009), and co-editor with Gregory Radick of The Cambridge Companion to Darwin (Cambridge, 2009). Gregory Radick is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds. His books include The Simian Tongue: The Long Debate about Animal Language (2007) and, as co-editor with Jonathan Hodge, The Cambridge Companion to Darwin (Cambridge, 2009).

Reviews for Darwin's Argument by Analogy: From Artificial to Natural Selection

'Darwin's comparison between natural and artificial selection is not 'just a metaphor.' It exemplifies a figure of argumentation that goes back to ancient Greek mathematics: proportional analogy. The implications of this fact, spelled out by the distinguished co-authors of Darwin's Argument by Analogy, are sure to change Darwin studies, both historical and philosophical, for good.' David J. Depew, University of Iowa '… an event in Darwin scholarship …' David Depew, Metascience 'This original, thoughtful, and thought-provoking book examines one of the most debated arguments in the history of biology … the book is an exemplary work of history and philosophy of science.' S. Andrew Inkpen, Metascience '… best explains Darwin's overall argument strategy in the Origin, but they also contend that it provides insight into 'the broader historiographical, philosophical, and socio-economic themes and issues' associated with Darwin and his research.' Andrea Sullivan-Clarke, Metascience