Understanding Natural Selection

Explains and defends Darwin's mechanism of natural selection, and explores its connections to culture, morality and religion.

Michael Ruse (Author)

9781009088329, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 November 2022

188 pages
17.7 x 12.9 x 1 cm, 0.21 kg

'Natural selection is one of the most important and contested ideas in modern science, helping us understand much of the functional design and order we observe in living nature. In his inimitable way, Michael Ruse gives the definitive account of natural selection, from its Darwinian origins and metaphorical foundation to the many historical, philosophical and scientific controversies that have swirled about it in the last century and a half. If you want to understand natural selection, you can do no better than a careful reading of this compact, highly informative and lively book. It is truly a tour de force.' Richard A. Richards, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, University of Alabama, USA

Natural selection, as introduced by Charles Darwin in the Origin of Species (1859), has always been a topic of great conceptual and empirical interest. This book puts Darwin's theory of evolution in historical context showing that, in important respects, his central mechanism of natural selection gives the clue to understanding the nature of organisms. Natural selection has important implications, not just for the understanding of life's history – single-celled organism to man – but also for our understanding of contemporary social norms, as well as the nature of religious belief. The book is written in clear, non-technical language, appealing not just to philosophers, historians, and biologists, but also to general readers who find thinking about important issues both challenging and exciting.

Introduction
1. The origin of species
2. Organism and mechanism: rival root metaphors
3. 'The non-Darwinian revolution?'
4. The synthesis
5. Is natural selection a vera causa?
6.The positive case
7.Time for a change?
8. Natural selection and its discontents
Envoi
Index.

Subject Areas: Evolution [PSAJ], Biology, life sciences [PS], Popular science [PDZ], History of science [PDX], Impact of science & technology on society [PDR], Philosophy of science [PDA], Religion & science [HRAM3]