Talk:Evolution as fact and theory/FAQ
FAQ's and Terms of Reference This article covers an advanced topic on evolutionary biology that falls under the philosophy of science. The FAQ covers questions that have been commonly raised in past discussions. In answering these questions, the answers provide general guidelines for editors and information to assist with aims of this kind of article.
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In particular, Darwin's theory is based on overarching observations that: 1) the constituency of individual traits varies in populations over time, 2) there is a traceable line of inheritable decent, and 3) lineages of populations are modified across generations by the differential extinction versus survival of individuals that vary. These are the manifest facts of populations that Darwin proved to exist; i.e., "confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent"[3]: 35 . When framed as a theory of natural selection, the change or departure from an ancestral stock of individuals is logically entailed in the conclusion.[4][5] The theory of natural selection has been called a meta-theory that has generated different research programs in evolutionary biology. However, natural selection is not the only theory to offer explanations for evolutionary phenomena. Specific theories are tested in various research programs, such as the synthesis of Mendelian genetics with natural selection, neutral theory of molecular evolution, group selection, and even ecology.[6]
The late Stephen J. Gould was a notable evolutionary biologist of the 20th century who claimed that evolution is a fact.[3] In another publication, Gould (2000)[7] clarified the nature of objective science in the context of realism, truth, and factual reality:
Hence, evolutionary biology is a science that can access reliable knowledge through rational inference on evolutionary theory as it relates to factual reality. Science produces knowledge of facts and demands publicly verifiable evidence of their existence and relevance to an inference. Evolutionary theory is based on a rational understanding and logical explanation of cause-effect relations referring to fact(s) or phenomena. Rational understanding is acquired through the iterative and illuminating practice of experimentation where deductive reasoning is applied and theories may perish. In particular, it is the puzzling observations or surprising facts that capture the most attention in critical tests of a theory. Evolutionary biologists make no exception to these scientific principles in their practice and claims about evolutionary facts and theories."On the other side, who would wish to deny the probable truth value of science, if only as roughly indicated by increasing technical efficacy through time—not a silly argument of naïve realism, by the way, but a profound comment, however obvious and conventional, about the only workable concept of factual reality...The true, insightful, and fundamental statement that science, as a quintessentially human activity, must reflect a surrounding social context does not imply either that no accessible external reality exists, or that science, as a socially embedded and constructed institution, cannot achieve progressively more adequate understanding of nature's facts and mechanisms."[7]
- ^ van Valen, L. (1982). "Why misunderstand the evolutionary half of biology?". In Saarinen, E. (ed.). Conceptual issues in ecology. pp. 323–343.
- ^ Donoghue, M. J.; Kadereit, J. W. "Walter Zimmermann and the growth of phylogenetic theory" (PDF). Syst. Biol. 41 (1): 74–85.
- ^ a b Gould, Stephen Jay (1981-05-01). "Evolution as Fact and Theory". Discover. 2 (5): 34–37.
- ^ Gould, S.J. (2002). The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Cambridge: Belknap Press (Harvard University Press). ISBN 0-674-00613-5.
- ^ Kinraide, T. B.; Denison, R. F. (2003). "Strong inference: The way of science" (PDF). The American Biology Teacher. 65 (6): 419–424.
- ^ Tuomi, J. Syst. Zool. 30 (1): 22=31 http://www.vordenker.de/downloads/tuomi_structure-dynamics-Darwinian-evolutionary-theory.pdf.
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b Gould, S. J. (2000). "Deconstructing the "Science Wars" by Reconstructing an Old Mold". Science. 287: 253–261.
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