The Cambridge Companion to Darwin

by Edited by Jonathan Hodge , Gregory Radick

• ISBN13: 9780521777308
• ISBN10: 0521777305
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-16
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin (1809–82) ranks as one of the most influential scientific thinkers of all time. In the nineteenth century his ideas about the history and diversity of life - including the evolutionary origin of humankind - contributed to major changes in the sciences, philosophy, social thought and religious belief. This volume provides the reader with clear, lively and balanced introductions to the most recent scholarship on Darwin and his intellectual legacies. A distinguished team of contributors examines Darwin’s main scientific ideas and their development; Darwin’s science in the context of its times; the influence of Darwinian thought in recent philosophical, social and religious debate; and the importance of Darwinian thought for the future of naturalist philosophy. New readers will find this a most convenient and accessible guide to Darwin. Advanced students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Darwin.

Table of Contents

List of contributors	ix
Preface	xiii
Introduction	1	(16)
Jonathan Hodge
Gregory Radick
PART I: DARWIN'S THEORISING
The making of a philosophical naturalist	17	(23)
Phillip R. Sloan
The notebook programmes and projects of Darwin's London years	40	(29)
Jonathan Hodge
Darwin on generation, pangenesis and sexual selection	69	(23)
Jim Endersby
Darwin on mind, morals and emotions	92	(24)
Robert J. Richards
The arguments in the Origin of Species	116	(27)
C. Kenneth Waters
PART II: HISTORICAL CONTEXTS
Is the theory of natural selection independent of its history?	143	(25)
Gregory Radick
Darwin's science and Victorian philosophy of science	168	(24)
David L. Hull
Darwin and Victorian Christianity	192	(22)
John Hedley Brooke
Darwin, social Darwinism and eugenics	214	(26)
Diane B. Paul
From Darwin to today in evolutionary biology	240	(27)
Jean Gayon
PART III: PHILOSOPHICAL THEMES
Metaphysical and epistemological issues in modern Darwinian theory	267	(21)
Elliott Sober
Darwinian concepts in the philosophy of mind	288	(22)
Kim Sterelny
Darwinism in moral philosophy and social theory	310	(23)
Alex Rosenberg
Belief in God in a Darwinian age	333	(24)
Michael Ruse
PART IV: WAYS FORWARD
In Darwin's wake, where am I?	357	(20)
Daniel C. Dennett
Ethical expressions: why moralists scowl, frown and smile	377	(22)
Owen Flanagan
Giving Darwin his due	399	(22)
Philip Kitcher
Guide to further reading	421	(3)
List of references	424	(37)
Index	461