Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Darwin’s Rehabilitation of Teleology Versus Williams’ Replacement of Teleology by Natural Selection

  • Published:
Biological Theory Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Williams argued that Darwin replaced teleology by natural selection. This article argues that this idea is based on a misunderstanding of Darwin’s critique of the argument from design. Darwin did not replace teleology by evolutionary explanations but showed that we can understand teleology without referring to a Designer. He eliminated the concept of design and rehabilitated Aristotelian teleological explanations. The implication is that adaptations should not be investigated as if designed, but with the help of both teleological and evolutionary explanations. It is argued that elaborations of teleological explanations enable us to reconcile evolutionary theory and other fields in science.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ayala FJ (1970) Teleological explanations in evolutionary biology. Philosophy of Science 37: 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayala FJ (2007) Darwin’s greatest discovery: Design without designer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104: 8567–8573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes KC, Armelagos, GJ Morreale SC (1999) Darwinian medicine and the emergence of allergy. In: Evolutionary Medicine (Trevathan WR, Smith EO, McKenna JJ, eds), 209–243. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnet FM (1957) A modification of Jerne’s theory of antibody production using the concept of clonal selection. The Australian Journal of Science 20: 67–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camperio-Ciani A, Corna F, Capiluppi C (2004) Evidence for maternally inherited factors favouring male homosexuality and promoting female fecundity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 271: 2217–2221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curio E (1973) Towards a methodology of teleonomy. Experientia 29: 1045–1058.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin F (ed) (1887) The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Including an Autobiographical Chapter, Vol. 3. London: John Murray.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin C ([1859] 1968) On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin C ([1958] 1993) The Autobiography (Barlow N, ed). New York: W.H. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forbes S (2002) Pregnancy sickness and embryo quality. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17: 115–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank SA (1998) Foundations of Social Evolution. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frank SA (2003) Repression of competition and the evolution of cooperation. Evolution 57: 693–705.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grafen A (2003) Fisher the evolutionary biologist. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series D (The Statistician) 52: 319–329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grafen A (2009) Formalizing Darwinism and inclusive fitness theory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364: 3135–3141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray A (1874, June 4) Scientific worthies: Charles Darwin. Nature 10: 79–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hacker PMS (2007) Human Nature: The Categorial Framework. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Haig D (1993) Genetic conflicts in human pregnancy. The Quarterly Review of Biology 68: 495–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haig D (2000) The kinship theory of genomic imprinting. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 31: 9–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haig D (2002) Genomic Imprinting and Kinship. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacob F, Monod J (1961) Genetic regulatory mechanisms in the synthesis of proteins. Journal of Molecular Biology 3: 318–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jauniaux E, Gulbis B, Burton GJ (2003) The human first trimester gestational sac limits rather than facilitates oxygen transfer to the foetus: A review. Placenta 24(Supplement A): S86–S93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jerne NK (1955) The natural selection theory of antibody formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 41: 849–857.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenny A (1968) Descartes. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenny A (1988) Cosmological explanation and understanding. In: Perspectives on Human Conduct (Herzberg L, Pietarinen J, eds), 72–87. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirschner M, Gerhart JC (2005) The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin’s Dilemma. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lennox JG (1992) Teleology. In: Keywords in Evolutionary Biology (Fox Keller E, Lloyd EA, eds), 324–333. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maynard Smith J, Szathmáry E (1995) The Major Transitions in Evolution. New York: W.H. Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maynard Smith J, Szathmáry E (1999) The origins of life; from the birth of life to the origin of language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr E (1961) Cause and effect in biology. Science 134: 1501–1506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr E (1992) The idea of teleology. Journal of the History of Ideas 35: 117–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCallum H, Jones M (2006) To lose both would look like carelessness: Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease. PLOS Biology 4: 1671–1674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Megone C (1998) Aristotle’s function argument and the concept of mental health. Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology 5: 187–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Megone C (2000) Mental illness, human function and values. Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology 7: 45–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michod RE, Viossat Y, Solari CA, Nedelcu AM, Hurrand M (2006) Life history evolution and the evolution of multicellularity. Journal of Theoretical Biology 239: 257–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nesse RM, Williams GC (1994) Why We Get Sick. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Okasha S (2006) Evolution and the Levels of Selection. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Paley W ([1802] 2006) Natural Theology, Or Evidence of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity Collected From the Appearances of Nature (Eddy MD, Knight D, eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Profet M (1992) Pregnancy sickness as adaptation: A deterrent to maternal ingestion of teratogens. In: The Adapted Mind (Barkow J, Cosmides L, Tooby J, eds), 327–365. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Queller DC (2000) Relatedness and the fraternal major transitions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 355: 1647–1655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Queller DC, Goodnight KF (1989) Estimating relatedness using genetic markers. Evolution 43: 258–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruse M (2003) Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savic I, Berglund H, Lindström P (2005) Brain response to putative pheromones in homosexual men. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 102: 7356–7361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit H (1995) Zwangerschapsmisselijkheid in een evolutionair perspectief. De Psycholoog 11: 449–455.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit H (2009) Genomic imprinting and communicative behaviour: Prader-Willi and Angelman syndrome. Netherland Journal of Psychology 65: 78–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit H (2010a) The development of altruistic behavior out of reactive crying. Biological Theory 5: 79–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit H (2010b) A conceptual contribution to battles in the brain. Biology & Philosophy 25: 803–821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit H (2010c) Weismann, Wittgenstein and the homunculus fallacy. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biology and the Biomedical Sciences 41: 263–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit H (in press 2011) Conflicts in our mind. Theory and Psychology 21(3). DOI:10.1177/0959354310371859

  • Stearns SC, Koella JC, eds (2008) Evolution in Health and Disease. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strassmann JE, Queller DC (2010) The social organism: Congresses, parties, and committees. Evolution 64: 605–616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor DR, Zeyl C, Cooke E (2002) Conflicting levels of selection in the accumulation of mitochondrial defects in Saccharomycetes cerevisiae. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 99: 3690–3694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen N (1963) On aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 20: 410–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen N ([1951] 1989) The Study of Instinct. Oxford: Clarendon Press (reprint of the second edition from 1969).

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivers RL (1974) Parent-offspring conflict. American Zoologist 14: 249–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Wright GH (1963) Varieties of Goodness. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weismann A ([1904] 1983) The Theory of Evolution, two volumes (Thomson JA, Thomson MR, trans). New York: AMS Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams GC ([1966] 1992) Adaptation and Natural Selection. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams GC (1985) A defense of reductionism in evolutionary biology. In: Oxford Surveys in Evolutionary Biology (Dawkins R, Ridley M, eds), 1–27. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cognitive Neuroscience Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands

    Harry Smit

Authors
  1. Harry Smit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Harry Smit.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Smit, H. Darwin’s Rehabilitation of Teleology Versus Williams’ Replacement of Teleology by Natural Selection. Biol Theory 5, 357–365 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1162/BIOT_a_00058

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/BIOT_a_00058

Keywords

Search

Navigation