Abstract
The eminent historian and philosopher ofbiology, Michael Ruse, has writtenseveral books that explore the relationship ofevolutionary theory to its larger scientificand cultural setting. Among the questions hehas investigated are: Is evolution progressive? What is its epistemologicalstatus? Most recently, in Darwin and Design:Does Evolution have a Purpose?,Ruse has provided a history of the concept ofteleology in biological thinking, especially inevolutionary theorizing. In his book, he moves quickly from Plato and Aristotle to Kantand such British thinkers as Paley andWhewell. His main focus, though, is on Darwin'stheory and its subsequent fate. Ruserests his history on some shaky historical andphilosophic assumptions, particularly theunexamined notion that evolutionary theory isan abstract entity that isunproblematically realized in differenthistorical periods. He also assumes that Darwinconceived nature as if it were a Manchesterspinning loom – a clanking, dispassionatemachine. A more subtle analysis, which Ruseeschews, might discover that Darwin'sconception of nature owed a strong debt toGerman Romanticism and that he contrivedto infuse nature with moral and aestheticvalues, not to suck them from nature. Ruseproves he is a thinker to contend with, and this essayis quite contentious.
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Richards, R.J. Michael Ruse's Design for Living. Journal of the History of Biology 37, 25–38 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIST.0000020388.99933.5b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIST.0000020388.99933.5b