title: Evolutionary theories and the philosophy of science
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Levit, Georgy S.
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Hossfeld, Uwe
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2021-08-25T19:26:18Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2021-08-25T19:26:18Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2021-06
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Levit G. S., Hossfeld U. Evolutionary theories and the philosophy of science. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies, 2021, vol. 37, issue 2, pp. 229–246.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu17.2021.204
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/32978
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: Philosophical theories proceeding from the history of physical-mathematical sciences are
  hardly applicable to the analysis of biosciences and evolutionary theory, in particular. This
  article briefly reconstructs the history of evolutionary theory beginning with its roots in
  the 19th century and up to the ultracontemporary concepts. Our objective is to outline the
  dynamics of Darwinism and anti-Darwinism from the perspective of the philosophy of science.
  We begin with the arguments of E. Mayr against the applicability of T. Kuhn’s theory of
  scientific revolutions to the history of biology. Mayr emphasized that Darwin’s publication
  of the Origin of Species in 1859 caused a genuine scientific revolution in biology, but it was
  not a Kuhnian revolution. Darwin coined several theories comprising a complex theoretical
  system. Mayr defined five most crucial of these theories: evolution as such, common descent
  of all organisms including man, gradualism, the multiplication of species explaining organic
  diversity, and, finally, the theory of natural selection. Distinguishing these theories is of
  great significance because their destiny in the history of biology substantially differed. The
  acceptance of one theory by the majority of the scientific community does not necessarily
  mean the acceptance of others. Another argument by Mayr proved that Darwin caused two
  scientific revolutions in biology, which Mayr referred to as the First and Second Darwinian
  Revolutions. The Second Darwinian Revolution happened already in the 20th century
  and Mayr himself was its active participant. Both revolutions followed Darwin’s concept
  of natural selection. The period between these two revolutions can be in no way described
  as “normal science” in Kuhnian terms. Our reconstruction of the history of evolutionary
  theory support Mayr’s anti-Kuhnian arguments. Furthermore, we claim that the “evolution
  of evolutionary theory” can be interpreted in terms of the modified research programmes
  theory by Imre Lakatos, though not in their “purity”, but rather modified and combined
  with certain aspects of Marxian-Hegelian dialectics.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: ru
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. Philosophy and Conflict Studies;Volume 37; Issue 2
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: biological evolution
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: evolutionary theory
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Darwinism
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Lamarckism
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: research programmes
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: dialectics
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: Evolutionary theories and the philosophy of science
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 229-246.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/32978/1/229-246.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 2 MB