The evolution of the darwinian research tradition

Abstract

Abstract The conceptual development of evolutionary theory is examined from the perspective of scientific research traditions whose core (natural selection for the Darwinian tradition) is preserved by changing auxiliary assumptions. For the Darwinian tradition, there have been three phases to this process. The original Darwinism defined natural selection in terms of a dynamic equilibrium between population growth and scarcity. Selection acts on individual organisms and returns to equilibrium. The conceptual challenge of Mendelian genetics was accommodated in neo‐Darwinism by shifting to a statistical formulation via population genetics, in which natural selection and equilibrium were redefined statistically and thereby preserved. Current ferment in evolutionary theory has come from attempts to integrate self‐organizing systems dynamics, such as the origin of life, development, and ecology, into an adequate theoretical framework. This can be accomplished by changing to non‐equilibrium background assumptions guided by the principles of irreversible thermodynamics. Natural selection is reconceived in terms of process and pattern of energy flow guided by internalized information. What is selected are differential patterns of energy flow that contribute to the stability and coherence of the whole systems of which they are a part.

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